


Doomed to Obscurity, Part III

by BluePhoenix73



Series: Doomed to Obscurity [5]
Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: Character Death, Death, F/M, Moving On, Promises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 15:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11489133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePhoenix73/pseuds/BluePhoenix73
Summary: The conclusion of the "Doomed to Obscurity" series (Part 5/5). The (important) events of Final Fantasy X from Auron's perspective. Largely nostalgia and inner monologue, with a few original scenes that players don't get to see because the camera is on Tidus.This would not have been possible withoutthis game script. I relied on it heavily for character dialogue, and it was extremely helpful for all parts of this series.





	1. Spira

Jecht, as much as he was Sin, was still Jecht, somewhere in that whale of a shell. Tidus and I had been separated on our arrival back in Spira—probably deliberately.

He had depended on me a lot over the last ten years.

But Jecht had dropped me off in the one place he knew I would most want to be when I finally returned to Spira: Macalania Woods.

I waded slowly into the pool near where Anya and I had spent our first night together. I felt the old sensation of the liquid, just thicker than water and pleasantly cool. There was nothing like it in Zanarkand, and if there had been, there was nothing like _this_. This was _mine_.

This was _ours_.

I drew a deep breath, dropped to one knee, and immersed my face in the pool. I had spent ten years in a world a thousand years dead, a world that was not my own. I thought it was perhaps okay to reclaim something that was.

As I emerged from the spring, I looked around. Scenes of times long since passed played before my eyes, as real as if I could reach out and touch them: Anya and I holding one another, and Braska, Jecht and I on our way to fight Sin. I looked at them all.

“I will keep my promises to you,” I whispered, scanning the faces of my friends. “All of you. Anya, I will find our daughter. Braska, I will protect yours. And Jecht, I brought your son to Spira. I’ll find him, and I’ll take care of him.”

This was not a side that I would show to Yuna and Tidus, once I encountered them. But for now, with my friends, I could let my guard down. Just for now.

I shed my pack and my cloak and slept easier than I had in ten years, surrounded by the voices of my best friends.

 

* * *

 

The sound of chirping birds awakened me the next morning, and I rose to find myself alone again. Waking up in Spira after so many years in Zanarkand was… refreshingly jarring. Sublime. I had made few friends in Jecht’s Zanarkand, and had never truly felt at ease there, no matter how easy life might have been. In Spira, however, at least I felt some semblance of being “home” again, like a weary traveler collapsing into his own bed, even if there was so much farther still to go.

My story was far from over.

I donned my cloak and gathered my things. Taking one last look around the pool, I headed for Bevelle, sure that word of someone as foreign to Spira’s soil as Jecht’s son was was likely to make news. If he had, I’d probably hear about it there.

Warily, I entered the city. I hadn’t forgotten what the place had done to me, nor had I forgotten what it had given me. It all combined in a rush that made me eager to leave, but long to stay. I shook myself out of it and headed for the inn.

I passed Braska and Mara’s former home along the way. To my great surprise, Yevon had not turned it into some attraction to turn a profit, but there appeared to be a young couple living there.

_The more things change…_ I sighed to myself, gazing at the home. I bumped into a young man on his way somewhere in my distraction.

“My apologies,” I said.

“Aren’t you going to see the Maesters leave?” he asked.

“Maesters?”

“Maester Mika is boarding his ferry, and Maester Seymour is with him!” the young man explained.

_Seymour?_ I remembered the child Anya and I had encountered in Guadosalam, Maester Jyscal’s son, and wondered if it could possibly be the same Seymour.

I had a bad feeling.

“Of course I was,” I said, turning around and heading for the Palace of St. Bevelle. I had to see for myself, and I knew they wouldn’t deny me a place on the ferry to wherever they were going.

_For once, being me might just pay off._

I passed easily through the throng of people gathered around the ferry, one of the most elaborate in Spira. The Maesters of Yevon were, naturally, afforded every comfort. Warrior monks of various ranks guarded an aisle leading from the temple to the dock. I scanned the faces for Kinoc on the off-chance that he could get me closer to this new Maester, but I could not see him.

I stood a few rows back, watching, waiting. Not a moment later, Maester Mika emerged from the temple, followed by a young man with bright blue hair, clothed in an elaborate robe. He was several years older, but the feeling in my gut confirmed that this was the Seymour I remembered.

Or perhaps he was worse.

His smile, though perhaps charming to the public, had an undertone of coy malevolence to it that compelled me to reach for my blade. He was no longer a boy, but I was also not a fool: he was protected by the strongest and most corrupt organization in Spira. I was powerless. Were I not already dead, they would kill me in seconds if I were to even approach him.

As Maester Mika and Seymour ascended the ramp to the ship, Mika turned around to address the crowd, which fell into an awed hush.

“My fellow denizens of Spira,” he began. “Although this blitzball tournament is held in honor of my fiftieth year in office, let it also commemorate our beloved Maester Jyscal Guado, who we will sorely miss. I’m sure none of us is more grief-stricken than his son, Maester Seymour, who, even as he assumes his father’s place, shares his vision of a united people of Spira.”

_Jyscal is dead?_ I pursed my lips. _Something is very wrong here._

I eyed them as they boarded, officials flanking them, keeping them safe. I approached the ramp.

“The ferry to Luca is at capacity,” a strong-looking young man with a helmet informed me. “The safety of Maesters Mika and Seymour is paramount.”

“I won’t do either of them any harm,” I assured him. “Would you perhaps talk to the captain and ask if there might be room for one of High Summoner Braska’s guardians? I thought I might go to Luca for the tournament, myself.”

The lad’s eyes widened in shock as the realization of my identity washed over him. “S-Sir Auron,” he stammered. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize… please wait here. I’m sure I can find you a place on board.”

I was hardly kept waiting before the ship’s captain returned to personally welcome me aboard his vessel. I thanked him and found a place below deck, searching for Seymour.

He needed to be watched.

I eventually found Mika and Seymour talking and took up an inconspicuous position around the corner.

“Has he been found?” Mika asked.

“There has been no sign of him since the beginning of Lord Braska’s Calm,” Seymour replied. “It seems he has just… _vanished._ ”

_Oh good,_ I sighed. _Fame catching up to me already._

“He did not take the exposition of his secret marriage well,” Mika noted. I clenched my fists. Why would he bring that up now?

“So I’ve heard.” Seymour paused. “Could that be the reason he’s gone into hiding? Could he have discovered that it was Kinoc who found the sphere and turned it over to you?”

_Kinoc? That scheming son of a shoopuf! I should have known it was him!_ I was too busy coming up with colorful names for Kinoc to hear Mika’s reply to Seymour, though I did hear the ship’s floorboards creak when they began to make their way toward me. Cursing under my breath, I slipped into a room—fortunately for me, a vacant one—and allowed them to pass before making my way back to the upper deck. I was still fuming about the revelation, but I had promises to keep, and hopefully Luca was where I would be able to begin to keep them.


	2. Two for One

I left the ferry well before Mika and Seymour. I knew they would be surrounded in pomp and ceremony, anyway, and I wanted to take a moment to visit the café where Anya and I had met Braska, Mara, and baby Yuna for the first time, before the streets flooded with people and before people would start to recognize me as Braska’s guardian.

Living in Zanarkand had come with its benefits: I relished the opportunity to be unknown.

I set off at a brisk pace, slipping past groups of people too preoccupied with the arriving players to really notice me passing them, and found a spot at what looked to be the same table Anya and I had occupied.

 _For once, I’m_ glad _that some things in Spira never change._

I unhooked the flask from my belt and held her beads to my lips.

_Promises to keep. And then… we can rest._

“Did you hear?” I overheard a conversation a few tables over. “They’re saying the Besaid Aurochs have a new player this year. There’s a rumor going around, you know—they’re saying he’s from Zanarkand!”

“What? No way!”

“What a joke!”

“I didn’t say I _believed_ it, but that’s what they’re saying.”

“Poor Aurochs. They’re trying way too hard.”

 _A man from Zanarkand with the Besaid Aurochs?_ I mused. _Jecht, did you drop him off with Yuna?_ I glanced over at the spherescreen in the café: the match between the Al Bhed Psychs and the Besaid Aurochs would be starting in a few minutes.

“This I have to see,” I muttered to myself. I asked the barkeeper at the counter for a refill for my flask, left her a good tip, and left the café in the direction of the stadium.

The crowds were not so easily navigated this time.

 

* * *

 

I reached the stadium just in time to see a man named Wakka swim out into the spherepool. The crowd had been cheering for him, chanting his name. As he huddled with the Aurochs, I glanced up at a spherescreen displaying the score: Aurochs 2, Goers 1. Behind the score was an instant replay of Tidus performing the “Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III.”

 _So he is here,_ I thought, leaning against the wall of the stairs.

“Sir Auron,” an usher approached me. “Sir Auron, would you be more comfortable in the Summoner’s Box? We can make some room if—”

“No need,” I assured him. “I will be fine here. I do not plan to stay long.”

The game was down to its final quarter, anyhow. This Wakka seemed to know what he was doing: he led the Aurochs to victory, taking the Crystal Cup for the first time in many years.

I chuckled. _If the Aurochs can win the tournament, perhaps anything is possible. Even defeating Sin for good._

Wakka flipped over in the spherepool, and I saw Tidus swim out to him. I was relieved to see that he was safe, though my comfort was short-lived: water fiends swarmed the spherepool, and land-based creatures began to flood the stadium. Panicked shrieks filled the stands as fans ran for their lives. I smirked. I could never seem to get myself out of trouble.

Thrusting one arm from my coat, I readied my blade, walking the opposite direction of the fleeing crowds. I had to make sure Jecht’s son survived. I dispatched a few fiends before I was joined by Tidus and Wakka, fresh from the spherepool.

“Auron!”

“Sir Auron!”

Tidus looked over at Wakka. “So, you do know him.”

“Yeah, best guardian there ever was.”

I half-smiled privately. _If only you knew._

More fiends ran in to surround us: large birds, dragon-like creatures that breathed fire, and more. I tightened my grip on my sword, bracing myself to take them all on.

“Hey, gimme a break!” Tidus whined.

From in front of Grand Maester Mika’s seat, Maester Seymour brandished an ornate summoning rod and began to perform a summoning. The aeon he called was unlike any I had ever seen before: looking into its one eye, I felt its pain and sadness, even as it destroyed every other threat in the vicinity. As the bodies of the fiends evanesced into pyreflies, Seymour stood triumphantly on Mika’s ledge, behind his aeon. I narrowed my eyes. Something about the situation was a little too convenient for my taste, but for now, the threat had passed.

“So…” Wakka began. “You uh… you know Sir Auron too, ya?”

“Yeah,” Tidus said, putting away his sword and scratching his head. “Guess we’ve known each other about ten years now.”

“Since the beginning of the last Calm,” Wakka observed. “Mm. It’s a good thing you found someone you knew here. Knew you couldn’t have just popped outta nowhere!”

Tidus threw a look my way.

“I’d better go say goodbye to the boys,” Wakka continued. “And pick up our trophy. It’s been a long time comin’.”

“You’ve earned it,” Tidus nodded.

“Congratulations,” I added.

“Th-thank you, Sir,” Wakka stammered. “Uh… well, maybe we’ll see you before we head out, ya?”

“Sure,” Tidus said. “Later.”

Wakka left us standing in the stadium.

“You!” Tidus yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “How could—”

“If you’d like to make a scene, we should go somewhere less populous.” I descended the stairs and made a beeline for the docks. With a frustrated growl, Tidus followed me. I stopped at Dock 5 and waited for him to catch up.

“Hey you! Don’t just stand there!” he squeaked, grabbing my cloak. “All of this is your fault! Gettin’ swallowed by Sin! Ending up here in Spira! Not being able to go back to Zanarkand—everything, everything! I’m telling you, it’s _all your fault!_ ”

I chuckled, my laughter eventually building to an uncontrollable roar that echoed through the docks. Tidus backed away slowly as I doubled over. I wasn’t sure whether my laughter was ironic or if it was from genuine amusement: on the one hand, had I not survived Braska’s journey, had I gone to the Farplane against Anya’s wishes, Tidus would not have been standing there in Spira.

Then again, without Sin, none of this would be happening, either. And he was blaming _me_ for it?

“Who _are_ you, anyway?”

I glanced over my shoulder at him, still trying to compose myself.

“You knew my old man, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And you also knew Yuna’s father?”

“That’s correct.”

“Hey man, there’s no way. That’s just impossible.”

“Nothing impossible about it. Jecht, Braska and I…” I turned to face him. “Together we defeated Sin, ten years ago. Then I went to Zanarkand… where I watched over you. So that one day I could bring you to Spira.”

Tidus looked pained. I understood: losing everything he had known, waking up in a different world… perhaps I hadn’t been transported from a world kept alive by a dream, but Spira looked different to me every time one of the people I’d come to care about was gone: Paine, Anya, Mara, Braska, even Jecht… every time the dawn rose after they had been lost to me, Spira had changed.

“Why did it have to be me?”

“Jecht asked me to.”

Tidus froze. “Is he alive?”

“It depends on what you mean by ‘alive.’” Tidus furrowed his brow in confusion. It was time for him to know. “He is… no longer human. But then… I felt something of Jecht, there in that shell, couldn’t you? You must have felt him when you came in contact with Sin.”

He looked down, trying to process. “It can’t be.”

It was a lot to handle. I was not going to go into the cycle, the way Jecht had explained it to me ten years ago—I could still barely believe it myself, I was sure Tidus wouldn’t accept it—but that Jecht was Sin, that he was not yet dead… _that_ much at least he had to know.

“It is. Sin is Jecht.”

“No! That’s ridiculous, no way! I don’t believe you!” He turned his back to me.

 _It_ is _a little ridiculous,_ I conceded privately. “But it is the truth. You’ll see for yourself. Come with me.” Yuna and her other guardians were to leave soon, and I still had to protect her as best I could, to make up for not being able to do so years ago.

“If I say no?”

“Every story must have an ending.”

“I don’t _care_ about your stories!”

“I see. Sorry you feel that way. Fine then, come or don’t come, it’s your decision.” I turned my back to him.

“Aaah!” he shouted. “What am I supposed to say? You tell me it’s _my_ decision, but I don’t have a choice, do I? You’re the only one who can tell me what’s going on, anyways! I have to go with you, I have to!”

I’d been in the same position, making a choice that was no choice at all. “Irritating, I know. Or are you afraid?”

He was bent over, attempting to choke back tears. I put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right.”

He took a deep breath, and I turned back. He wasn’t the child he once was, but a lot had happened to him recently: his whole life had been entirely upended.

“Auron?”

I glanced over my shoulder.

“Will I ever go home? Back to Zanarkand?”

“That’s up to Jecht.” I took a few paces forward. “I’m going to offer my services to Yuna. Come.” He hesitated for a moment before following me from the docks.

Tidus didn’t say anything as we made our way to the steps leading from Luca to the Mi’ihen Highroad, where Yuna and her guardians were having a discussion. He seemed reluctant, and I had to make sure he was still behind me every so often.

“Don’t tell me an old man is faster than Zanarkand’s star player,” I chuckled.

“As if,” he mumbled, though he didn’t bother to speed up.

I approached the party, Tidus lagging behind me.

“Sir Auron?” Yuna gasped. I wondered whether it was my helping her father that prompted the recognition or if she actually remembered me from her childhood.

Yuna, Wakka, and a woman clothed in black presented me with the prayer. After seeing the rotten innards of Yevon, I’m not sure I would have returned it even if I could have.

“Yuna.”

“Sir?”

“I wish to become your guardian. Do you accept?” It was a little unorthodox to _ask_ to become someone’s guardian, but it had been years since I’d followed the rules.

“You’re serious?” Wakka asked.

“You refuse?” I asked, trying to hide my amusement. If they knew that I was no legendary guardian—just an old one—I doubt they would have been so dumbfounded by my offer.

“No, no!” Yuna insisted. “We accept! Right, everyone?”

“O-of course, no problem at all!” Wakka echoed enthusiastically.

“But… why?” asked the woman in black.

“I promised Braska.”

Yuna seemed taken aback. “You promised… my father?” She bowed deeply. “Thank you, Sir Auron! You’re welcome to join us!”

“And…” I pulled Tidus’ arm, whipping him around to stand in front of me. “He comes, too.”

“Hi, guys…” he breathed. “Eh, howdy.”

“This one I promised Jecht.”

“Is Sir Jecht alive?” Yuna asked, her eyes lighting up the way they had when she was a child. I should have seen that question coming.

I couldn’t tell her the truth, of course. Not the whole truth, the way I’d told Tidus. “Can’t say. Haven’t seen him in ten years.”

“I… see.”

“You’ll meet eventually.” Someday, she’d discover what I meant.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it!”

I scanned the group, then approached the woman in black. “What’s our itinerary? Where are we headed?”

Yuna beckoned Tidus over to her and they began to speak as the woman, who introduced herself as Lulu, and I discussed the group’s travel plans. It appeared as though this pilgrimage would be similar to my first one: from Luca, we would take the Mi’ihen Highroad to Djose, and from there, we would continue on to the Moonflow, the Thunder Plains, Macalania, Bevelle, and the Calm Lands. Lulu seemed to have it all planned out: she had clearly put a great deal of thought and care into Yuna’s journey.

I glanced over at the Ronso traveling with them. His horn was broken, but the sapphire fur that covered his body was familiar. Lulu had told me that his name was Kimahri, and as the Ronso did not commonly share names, I was almost certain it was the same one. Still, I wondered…

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

We all turned to look at Tidus, who was making a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scream and projecting it out over Luca.

“You probably shouldn’t laugh anymore,” Yuna commented quietly.

Tidus continued to make the sound, and the look on Yuna’s faced changed subtly from embarrassment to amusement to determination. She took up a position beside Tidus and drew in a deep breath.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha HA!”

They both broke into laughter as Wakka, Lulu, and I exchanged looks of confusion—and slight entertainment. Wakka stepped forward as Tidus turned to lead Yuna back toward us.

“What’re you looking at?” Tidus asked, observing our stares.

“We were just worried you guys might’ve gone crazy!” Wakka said.

“Sorry,” Yuna said, her smile still visible on her face. “Well then, alright. Now, we go to the temple at Djose. And guardians? Don’t forget to smile.”

Tidus laughed, patted her on the shoulder, and took up a position ahead of her. I eyed them, sensing a familiarity in their interactions: a young summoner and her guardian. I brushed Anya’s necklace with my fingertips and allowed myself a private smirk.

_This is going to be quite a journey._

 

* * *

 

As the sun was beginning its daily descent, we reached the Travel Agency on the Mi’ihen Highroad. I was so connected to this place. Although it had been destroyed and rebuilt, and although I hadn’t seen it in ten years, it looked none the worse for wear. I, of course, was a different story.

“We rest here,” I declared.

“But this is an Al Bhed shop!” Wakka protested.

“Is that a problem?”

“They—they don’t believe in Yevon, and in Luca they… they kidnapped Yuna!”

As if not worshipping a corrupt institution was any reason to hate an entire people. “Where were her guardians?” I shot back.

Wakka grumbled, smacked his palm to his forehead, and whistled innocently.

“Sir Auron’s just concerned about your health,” Yuna interjected.

“I’m not tired one bit,” Wakka said stubbornly.

“Well _I_ am,” I said through clenched teeth, determined to be equally as stubborn. I led the group into the shop and arranged accommodations for the night, ensuring that I stayed in the room that Anya and I had stayed in on our journey. It had been redecorated since I’d last seen it, but there was still something comforting about knowing that she had been here, that we had held our daughter in these walls, no matter how long ago it was.

For the first time in many years, I took Anya’s sphere from the lining of my cloak and set it beside me as I stretched out on the bed. It wasn’t so bittersweet to watch this time, and I slept comfortably.

When I awoke, the fiery sunset had spread itself across the sky. I could hear Tidus snoring in the next room, and thought I might go enjoy the view while we waited for him to wake up from his snooze.

I left the building to find Yuna, Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri already outside. Yuna was sitting on a small outcropping of land, a sphere in her hands. She was looking at it thoughtfully, though she didn’t seem to be recording anything on it yet.

I sat next to her. She seemed surprised at first, but relaxed after a moment. We sat together, looking out at the setting sun.

“I’ve always loved the sunset here,” I said. “Ever since my first pilgrimage as a guardian. Besaid’s sunsets were beautiful, but the first time I saw this, it took my breath away.”

Yuna looked over at me. “Your first pilgrimage?”

“Did Braska never tell you?” I bowed my head. “He and I met when I was on my first pilgrimage. I was the only guardian of a summoner about your age. She had lost most of her family to Sin, and had no close friends, as she’d spent her life moving from place to place.”

“How sad,” Yuna breathed.

“She became a summoner in Besaid, just as you did. She did it alone. She asked one of the priests whether they could spare anyone to go with her on her journey.” I paused. Yuna’s eyes were filled with curiosity, but also sadness. “Because of my rank, I was selected. She seemed kind, and I agreed to be her guardian. I thought it might help me hone my skills, and perhaps I would be promoted when I returned. Maybe even sent to Bevelle.

“But everything changed on that journey. It happened gradually, but we fell in love. I asked Braska if I should ask her to quit her pilgrimage so we could start a life together.”

“What did she say?”

I smiled. Yuna didn’t even care that at almost any rank at the Besaid temple, warrior monks were not permitted to marry. Our duty had to come first, our training… it was a lonely life.

“She sought guidance from both of your parents,” I said. “And the fayth at the temple in Bevelle. But eventually, she said yes. Your parents arranged a beautiful ceremony for us, in secret. We even had a child, nine months later. It was going to be a wonderful life, even if neither of us could be involved with the temples the way we had planned to be. But…”

“But?”

“Sin.”

Yuna’s face hardened. “Of course.”

“It attacked this very building while we were on our way to Kilika,” I said. “We thought our daughter was killed. It made Anya determined to defeat Sin, to avenge her. But she…” I sighed. It was still difficult to discuss. “She died on Mt. Gagazet. Her health failed her, but so did I.”

“Sir Auron…”

“It made me determined to get Braska safely to Zanarkand,” I said. “My wife was my reason for fighting beside your father then. Now, I want Sin defeated for him, and Jecht, and Anya.” I looked out at the sunset, and chuckled. Yuna looked at me curiously. “It seems selfish, but Sin has taken enough from me.”

I stood to leave, but Yuna caught the corner of my cloak. “Wait.”

I looked down at her. “Yes?”

“You said you _thought_ your daughter died. What happened to her?”

“I do not know,” I admitted truthfully. “But…” I tried to think of some kind of phrasing that would not alert Yuna to my state. She did not need to know I was unsent. “On a visit to the Farplane, I couldn’t see her. She was not there.”

Yuna’s smiled, her eyes hopeful. “So she’s still alive?”

“She must be. My main priority is to keep you safe, Yuna, do not question that, but I hope… I hope to find her as we journey.”

Yuna nodded. “I hope so, too.”

I gave Yuna some space, but I lingered close to her, partly out of sense of duty, but partly out of some deep emotion I couldn’t quite place. Perhaps part of it was that I’d lost Paine so close to this spot. Perhaps part of it was my promise to Braska. Perhaps part of it was wanting to protect Yuna as my own.

With certainty in her eyes, Yuna switched on her sphere, and began recording. Even though we had just spoken, I was somewhat surprised to hear her mention my name first.

“Sir Auron,” she began. “Kimahri told me…when my father wanted me taken from Bevelle to Besaid… it was you who told Kimahri, right? I had always wanted to meet you someday.” _So she doesn’t remember,_ I mused, a little sad. I hadn’t been an especially present figure in her life, even when I lived in Bevelle, but Yuna as a bright-eyed child was the closest I was going to get to having memories of my own daughter, and I cherished those memories. “Having you as a guardian was so great an honor I don’t know how to thank you. Perhaps if I defeat Sin, that will be my thanks to you. That’s what I’ll do. Yes. I will challenge Sin. I will defeat Sin. If you are all there watching this, then I guess Sin is already gone.” She paused. “And so am I, I suppose. Anyway, I just wanted to say: Sir Auron, I thank you.”

She continued her goodbyes, looking out over the waters, tinted a warm red by the sunlight. I wondered how much of her mother and father she remembered, or if she recalled meeting Jecht.

I smiled sadly as she recalled happy memories with Kimahri, Wakka, and Lulu, and suddenly, I felt as though I was intruding. As quietly as I could manage, I made my way back toward the Travel Agency. A couple of the chocobos were still playing next to the building, enjoying the last rays of the sun in the cool evening. One of them plodded over to me and nudged me with its beak.

“Hey,” I chuckled, patting it on the head. “Don’t you get enough attention?”

It sang a happy little “kweh!” in response to my affection, then rejoined its friends as Tidus finally emerged from the inn.

“Whoa, check it out,” he breathed, taking in the sunset, the sparkling water, and the ruins beyond the coast. He headed toward Yuna. “Whatcha up to?”

I hoped she was done with her recording, but I decided not to interrupt. Perhaps it was something about this location; maybe Anya had seen what I had seen and was guiding them together from the Farplane. Whatever the case may have been, it seemed like I should stay out of it.

I took in the view, recalling the landscapes I had neglected while I was here before and had not seen in ten years, until I overheard Yuna begin to tell Tidus about the Final Summoning.

I sensed it was my time to intervene.

“The Fayth of the Final Summoning lies waiting in the far north, to greet summoners that complete their pilgrimage. At the world’s edge… in Zanarkand.”

Tidus stepped closer to her. “In _Zanarkand?_ ”

Yuna shook her head, searching for words she wouldn’t be able to find.

“She means the ruins of a city destroyed a thousand years ago,” I interjected.

Tidus looked at Yuna. “You sure it’s ruins?”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

“You’ll see it for yourself soon enough,” I promised her. After Jecht and Braska’s sacrifices, after speaking to Jecht through Sin and seeing Zanarkand for myself… I had to help Yuna complete her pilgrimage, but I had to hope that it would be different. That just maybe we could break the cycle. “Yuna, come back inside.”

I left them alone, knowing Yuna was safe with Tidus and that they’d be along. We all needed to rest: we were sure to have an eventful day ahead of us.


	3. Dream a Little Longer

Sometimes I hate being right.

We found our path toward the Djose Road blocked by carts, cages, and Crusaders. We had heard talk of an “Operation Mi’ihen”: I guessed that was the cause of the blockade.

We turned around to find another solution when we came face-to-face with Seymour and two members of his entourage. Yuna knelt, giving Yevon’s prayer to Seymour. He returned it.

“So we meet again, Lady Yuna,” he said.

“Y-yes?” she stammered. My sword arm tensed: they had met?

“You look troubled,” he continued. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Well…” Yuna glanced back toward the gate, her posture still stiff.

“I see…”

Seymour and his guards advanced toward the gate. The gate captain saluted him.

“Maester Seymour. Let me show you to the command center.”

“Hold, I have a request,” he said, his voice taking on a slight air of authority.

The gate captain looked startled. “Yes, Your Grace?”

“I need to have Summoner Yuna and her guardians let through to the command center.”

“But… but, Maester Seymour… Maester Seymour, sir…”

“Do not worry. I will take full responsibility.”

The Crusader looked as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. I guessed he was _very_ afraid of whoever his direct superior was. “Very well. They may pass.”

Seymour turned back to Yuna. “It is done.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.” She continued to bow to him, even after he had proceeded to the command center.

“Yuna, it’s time to go,” Lulu said gently.

“Oh! Right!”

Tidus looked disgruntled as the rest of us began to follow Seymour. “Who does he think he is?”

“He’s a maester,” Wakka said. “Better get used to it, ya?”

Tidus snorted.

As we reached the Mushroom Rock Road, we found a large contingent of Crusaders and numerous Al Bhed soldiers and engineers clustered around Seymour.

“Brave Crusaders of Spira, protectors of all Spira,” he began. “Believe in the path you have chosen, let faith be your strength! I, Seymour Guado, maester of Yevon, will bear witness to your deeds today.”

“Sir!” they chorused, saluting him.

“What’s goin’ on?” Wakka demanded. “Why’s Maester Seymour backing the Crusaders, eh? They’re using the Al Bhed’s machina! They’re violating the teachings!”

“Even going against the teachings,” Yuna said thoughtfully, “they’re willing to risk it for the greater good. Wakka, I think Maester Seymour sees that, too.”

Wakka sputtered, searching among us for help. “Lulu?”

“Hmm… I can only speculate.”

“Ask him yourself,” I said dryly. I was as interested in hearing Seymour’s reasons as Wakka was, but I knew Yevon was corrupt: Wakka needed to figure it out for himself.

Seymour dismissed the Crusaders, then walked intently toward Yuna. Partly to my relief—and partly to my dismay—he stopped, glancing in my direction.

“Ah, Sir Auron. It is an honor. I would be most interested in hearing what you’ve been doing these past ten years.”

“I’ve got nothing to say about it.” It was nothing he needed to know, and nothing I wanted to tell him. I walked a few paces away, not eager to allow my distate for Seymour to become overly apparent to the rest of the group—and certainly not to him—but I did want to remain close enough to hear any explanation he might offer as to why Yevon was throwing their lot in with the Al Bhed.

“Isn’t this operation against the teachings of Yevon?” Wakka asked. “Aren’t you gonna stop them?”

“It’s true, I should.”

“Mm! Mm!”

“However,” Seymour continued. “Both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed truly wish peace for Spira. This Operation Mi’ihen was born from that wish they share. Although it may be sacrilege to Yevon, their intentions are pure. And I, Seymour Guado—the person, not the maester of Yevon… as a denizen of Spira, I wish them well in their endeavor.”

_I doubt_ his _intentions are so pure,_ I thought.

Wakka began grasping at straws, desparate to affirm his beliefs. “But, using machina… that’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Pretend you didn’t see them.”

This earned a collective gasp from Wakka and the others.

“Beg your pardon, but that’s not something a maester should say!”

“Then pretend I didn’t say it.”

I scoffed. There was certainly a lot of pretending going on in Spira: pretending that Sin could ever be defeated, pretending that Yevon was good and true, pretending that there was no corruption in our leadership… but if Seymour was not careful, he risked exposing this pretend power to precisely the wrong people, at precisely the wrong time. Time would tell if Seymour was really as good a manipulator as I judged him to be, or if he was simply another pretender.

 

* * *

 

When we reached the command center, I was greeted by someone I had never expected to see again. He had gone bald since I last saw him, shaved his beard, and donned extravagant new robes. I assumed he had gone up again in rank.

“Oh!” Wen Kinoc put his arms around me. I stood still. “I’d heard from Seymour, but I didn’t know if we’d actually meet.” He stepped back. “Good to see you, Auron! Ten years, is it?”

I set my jaw. I had nothing to say to the man.

Gatta, a Crusader from Besaid, rushed in and saluted Kinoc. Why would he salute Kinoc, unless…?

“All troops ready to move at your command, sir!”

“Good, dismissed.”

“Sir!”

Kinoc turned back to me. “Tell me, Auron. Where have you been the last ten years?”

It took all my effort not to roll my eyes at his attempt to make casual conversation. “We don’t have time for this now, do we?”

“This plan won’t work, you know that. We’ll just let them… _dream_ a little longer.”

“What?!” Tidus exclaimed.

“Lord Kinoc…” Seymour interjected, as though reminding Kinoc not to let his tongue slip.

“Oh, yes,” Kinoc nodded. “Proceed.”

“That Kinoc, a maester?” I grumbled, a little less under my breath than I intended.

“I heard that, Auron,” he said. “A lot has happened the last ten years. What were you doing, and where?”

“Fulfilling a promise I made to a friend. I still am.”

“Just tell me one thing: have you seen Zanarkand?”

I vaguely remembered agreeing to tell him about Zanarkand, before my pilgrimage with Braska… and before I discovered that he’d given my sphere— _Anya’s_ sphere—to Mika. I scoffed, and just as I had done then, left him standing there.

I spoke with a merchant and traded for some supplies, and when we were ready, Kinoc gave the signal to begin the operation.

“Will Sin come?” Yuna asked the base captain.

“Sin always returns for its spawn,” he replied. “To make sure, we’re going to encourage them to call out to it.”

“You won’t have to,” I said. “It’ll come.” I looked over at Tidus. _We’ve got Sin’s most important spawn right here._

The eerie quiet was interrupted by a loud crash and a terrible roar: the cage they had been using to keep the sinspawn in had malfunctioned, and they had gotten loose. I drew my sword. Perhaps this absurd plan was futile, but it was still my job to defend Yuna.

 

* * *

 

I shook myself awake from the wave of energy Sin had sent toward us. Before me, Seymour was face-to-face—inasmuch as he could be—with the sinspawn we’d fought earlier. Beside me, Yuna was stirring. I sighed and moved to fight beside Seymour, certain that his concern was for Yuna. Mine, however, was as well, so that made us allies, at least for this fight.

Yuna pulled herself up and joined us.

“Stand back, Lady Yuna,” Seymour called.

“Y-yes,” she stammered.

We dispatched the sinspawn with relative ease, considering we were still sore from our earlier fight and from being tossed around by Sin. Yuna looked around her, suddenly realizing she couldn’t locate anyone else.

“The others!” she cried, running toward the edge of the cliff to examine the continuing battle.

Not far from us, an Al Bhed cannon powered up, attempting to pierce Sin’s shields. Its energy was impressive, and for a moment, it appeared to have made a rather reasonable indent; but Sin sent the displaced shields rocketing toward the contraption, rendering it powerless and bringing it crashing to the earth amidst fiery explosions that anyone nearby couldn’t have survived. Yuna gasped and looked on in shock as Sin began to turn away.

“Everyone, stand back!” she shouted. “I’ll summon!”

“You won’t hurt it,” Seymour said sharply, his words sounding suspiciously like a command. He must have realized this, as well, because he continued, more softly: “Your powers are still… too weak.”

“But I… must do _something!_ ” Yuna picked up her staff and began to twirl it, a glimmer of determination in her eyes.

“You _can’t!_ ” Seymour barked. Startled, Yuna halted her summoning, gripping her staff tighter, as if for comfort.

I narrowed my eyes at Seymour. What was his game? Why would he have prevented Yuna from summoning?

What did he want?

A burst of action erupted around me as Seymour crept away: Yuna had begun to perform a sending for those who had perished during the disaster that was the Operation, and Tidus, who had washed up on the shore, woke to the sight of her sending the dead. Close by, I thought I heard gunshots, and three young men—I assumed survivors of the day’s events—came rushing past me. I had barely turned my attention back to Yuna when a flash of silver caught my eye. Perhaps I had just imagined it, but I could have sworn that it was the color of Paine’s hair. I whipped around, scanning the area for it, but whatever—or whoever—the source of the illusion was, it was gone.

Had she actually been here and survived all this mess? Had I come so close, only to lose her again?

I gazed in the direction I thought I’d heard heavy footfalls vanish into, and I looked up into the overcast sky.

_If you were here,_ I thought, _please be alive. Please be safe._ I shook my head at the thought of not being able to do any more to help her than to pray for her safety. _Some father_ I _am._ I turned my attention back to Yuna and Tidus. _But there is something I can do for these two. I can still protect them. Promises…_

“I see you’re still here,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Many stories ended here today, but…” I looked around at the bodies that littered the shoreline. Some of them were disappearing into pyreflies, while the others waited their turns. Jecht had left them there, just as he had left Tidus. “Yours goes on, I see.” I glimpsed Kinoc, Seymour, and some of their guards a little further up the cliff, preparing to leave. I made my way over to them, Yuna and the rest of the group joining up with me.

“A swift retreat. Satisfied?”

“What do you mean?” Kinoc asked.

“Those who turned from Yevon died, while the faithful live on.”

“Hmm. The past ten years have changed you, I see.”

_It didn’t take that long,_ I thought as he walked away, Seymour taking his place.

“You do not look so well,” Seymour told Yuna. “But now more than ever, you must be the people’s strength, their confidence. Anyone else would be expected to show their sorrow. But you… are a summoner. You are Spira’s hope. Until Sin is defeated, you must not relent. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Yuna said, still sounding a little starstruck. “I understand.”

“Are you afraid?”

Yuna didn’t meet his eyes.

“Yuna, take _me_ as your pillar of strength. As Yunalesca had her lord Zaon.”

I knew precisely what he was asking, but although I was certain Yuna knew of this famous couple, perhaps she did not understand his implications. Nonetheless, she looked taken aback by his sudden closeness, and I felt the urge to step between them. Perhaps Seymour sensed this.

“Lady Yuna. Until next we meet, farewell.” He turned to leave, and Yuna bowed to him once more.

I noticed Tidus looking out at the ocean… after Jecht. I stood beside him, hoping to shake Seymour from my mind.

“Sin is Jecht,” I said.

“Yeah, for a while there, I thought I could feel him. But that doesn’t mean I believe you.”

“Sin is Jecht,” I repeated. “He came here for you.”

“So he killed all those people just for a chance to see me?”

“That’s what Sin does. He wanted to show that to you. Do you know why?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“So you would kill him. As long as he is Sin, Jecht will keep killing. He wants you to stop him.”

“You gotta be kidding. How do you know all of this, anyway?”

I chuckled and began to walk toward the bluff overlooking the beach.

“I’m not done talking to you!” Tidus shouted after me. “Don’t you run away!”

“You’re the one running,” I called back to him.

We proceeded down the Djose Road, beating back a group of fiends here and there, when we reached the place where the road divided: going left would take us to the Moonflow, and going right led to the Djose temple.

I had been bringing up the rear, thinking of the situation. I had told Tidus about Jecht, but I had deliberately not told Yuna. She needed to discover it in her own time and come to terms with it on her own, otherwise she might not go on. Those ahead of me had stopped to talk once they reached the fork in the road. I smiled to myself, reminded of my travels with Braska and Jecht. Most of the party began to move on, except for Tidus.

“Hey, new guy,” I called.

“Uh… me?”

“Who else?”

“What can I do for you, boss?”

I held back a smile. “Don’t tell Yuna you know about Sin and Jecht.”

“Eh?”

“You know her,” I began, deciding to play on either his sense of duty as a guardian or his budding relationship with Yuna. “She would… distance herself from you. We do not want that.”

“I see, I think.” He looked thoughtful. “Yeah, but even if I did say something, no one would believe me, you know?”

“Yuna would.”

“Ah… you have a point. Come to think of it… did _I_ really have to know about Jecht? What about _my_ feelings?”

“Better than you finding out at a critical moment, becoming emotional.”

“What? Me, emotional?”

I chuckled and began to follow the others to the temple. “I heard you were quite the crybaby.”

Tidus was quiet for a few seconds, then called after me: “Hey! I still don’t buy your story, you hear?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Operation Mi'ihen. I really do. It's a fine part of the game, don't get me wrong, but Seymour. And Kinoc.
> 
> UGH.
> 
> And then this part... I struggled with whether or not Auron should actually see Paine, but in the end I settled on this. Close, but no cigar. Because apparently I like to torture him. Poor guy.


	4. The Al Bhed

“Whoa!”

We had reached the Moonflow at last. Tidus reminded me of myself, when I first glimpsed the moonlilies that swayed atop the blue-green waters of the Moonflow’s south wharf, pyreflies dancing happily above them.

“This is the Moonflow,” Lulu explained. Tidus let out an impressed whistle.

Yuna crouched by the water’s edge, inhaling the scent of the flowers. “These are moonlilies! They say that clouds of pyreflies gather here when night falls.”

“The entire river glows, like a sea of stars,” Lulu added, gazing out over the waters.

Tidus leaned over the water, examining the flowers. “Really?” he breathed. He scanned the waters thoughtfully for a moment, then popped up suddenly. “Hey, I got an idea!”

“We’re not waiting ‘til nightfall,” I said curtly. I wanted nothing more than to stay, but my sentiments had already cost us a day, back at the Travel Agency: I would not delay Yuna’s pilgrimage again.

“Then, once we beat Sin, we’re coming back!” Tidus declared, his tone and gestures implying that the matter was settled.

Everyone else looked on with blank expressions, Yuna’s masking a kind of serene sadness. She tried to smile when she was feeling sad, but perhaps knowing that she would never be back was affecting her. A warm breeze blew a cloud of moonlily petals into her face, and swept their scent past me, gently caressing my cheek.

One summoner reaching out to another. I inhaled deeply. _Thank you._

“Hey,” Wakka said, drawing everyone’s attention. “We better hurry or we’ll miss the shoopuf!”

Tidus shot him a confused look. “Shoopuf? That some kind of boat?”

Wakka gestured to the shoopuf as it passed slowly by, its legs leaving trails in the water behind it.

“Whoa, what the… whoa!” Tidus grinned.

“This is a shoopuf.”

“Whoa…” Tidus continued to look on in amazement. “Let’s ride! Come on, let’s go!”

Wakka seemed amused by Tidus’ fascination with the creature. “All right! We board soon as we’re ready, ya?”

Tidus clapped Wakka on the back, and he and Lulu approached some of the merchants to restock our supplies. Kimahri and I stayed close to Yuna. Tidus approached me as I examined the shoopuf.

“Ten years ago…”

Tidus groaned. “A history lesson?”

I shot him a look. “Jecht saw his first shoopuf here. Surprised, he drew his blade and struck it.”

Tidus’ expression shifted from bored to entertained. “Why?”

“He was drunk… thought it was a fiend.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother.”

“We offered all the money we had as an apology. Jecht never drank again. But, it would seem that shoopuf still works here.” I shifted my weight. “Even after ten years, Spira hasn’t changed. Truly, the place seems to resist change. It would take something unusual…” I pulled myself from my wandering thoughts. “Don’t let the peaceful scenery fool you. Be on guard at all times.”

Tidus nodded, and we noticed Yuna’s delighted smile at the mention of the shoopuf.

“I haven’t ridden one in so long!” she exclaimed.

“What? You’ve been on one of these?” Tidus asked.

“Well, just once. Ten years ago, with Kimahri.” She glanced over at the Ronso. “Remember?”

“Shoopuf shook. Yuna fall in water. Shoopuf scoop up Yuna with long nose. Yuna jump in three more times for fun.” Kimahri paused, his expression pensive. “Kimahri worried.”

Yuna tried to cover her smile. “Whoops!”

“Yuna had fun. Kimahri happy.” I thought I saw something dangerously close to a grin on the Ronso’s face.

Yuna glimpsed the trace of confusion that lingered on Tidus’ face, so she continued to explain. “I lived in the city of Bevelle until ten years ago. I moved to Besaid after my father defeated Sin. Kimahri was with me the whole way!”

“Bevelle?”

“It’s the biggest city in Spira! The main temple of Yevon is there.”

Tidus shrugged, probably figuring he’d see it eventually, and continued on toward the lift. Yuna followed.

“Kimahri?”

He turned toward me, his figure towering over mine.

“I wanted to thank you properly for making sure Yuna arrived safely in Besaid,” I said. “And… for staying with her. Keeping her safe. Being her first real guardian. I—”

“Kimahri happy,” he said. “Yuna needed Kimahri. Maybe Kimahri needed Yuna, too.” With that, he followed Yuna toward the lift, and we all boarded the shoopuf.

Wakka, Tidus, Lulu, and Yuna discussed the sunken machina city beneath the water. I chanced a glimpse over the edge of the shoopuf’s back, myself: I hadn’t been paying attention on either of my last two trips on it, after all.

“Yevon has taught us:” Wakka was explaining. “When humans have power, they seek to use it. If you don’t stop them, they go too far, ya?”

As full of Yevon’s drivel as his head was, occasionally he spoke some sense.

“Yeah, but don’t you use machina too?” Tidus asked. “Like the stadium and stuff, right?”

“Yevon, it decides…” Lulu said. “Which machina we may use, and which we may not.”

“So what kind of machina _‘may we not use,’_ then?” Tidus’ tone was decidedly condescending, and I had to hold back a chuckle.

“Remember Operation Mi’ihen?” Wakka replied. “That kind.”

“Or war will rage again,” Lulu added.

“War?”

“More than a thousand years ago…” Yuna chimed in. “Mankind waged war using machina to kill!”

“They kept building more and more powerful machina,” Wakka continued.

“They made weapons so powerful… it was thought they could destroy the entire world,” Lulu said ominously.

“The people feared that Spira would be destroyed.” Yuna looked genuinely troubled, and I wondered exactly which versions of this story she’d been told.

“But the war did not stop!”

Tidus looked at Wakka. “Wh-what happened then?”

Yuna lowered her eyes. “Sin came, and it destroyed the cities and their machina.”

“The war ended,” Lulu added. “And our reward… was Sin.”

“So, Sin’s our punishment for lettin’ things get out of hand, eh?”

Tidus looked exhausted by the thought. “Man, that’s rough.”

Wakka nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it is.”

“But, it’s not like the machina are _bad_.”

Lulu looked thoughtful. “Only as bad as their users.”

“It’s because of people like the Al Bhed screwin’ everything up!” Wakka exclaimed. I restrained a sigh: it was Yevon’s idea that all Al Bhed were bad, but had Mara never told me she was, I never would have guessed. The Al Bhed took me in after my confrontation with Yunalesca, not expecting anything in return. They weren’t bad simply because they didn’t believe in Yevon, because they used machina to accomplish day-to-day tasks. After everything I had seen, I couldn’t believe that about them.

A mechanical rubling interrupted my train of thought.

“Whatsh could thatsh be?” the shoopuf driver asked, looking around.

Everyone stood up to look over the sides of the shoopuf. I noticed Yuna was standing, too.

“Sit down!” I called to her, my voice almost a scold.

“S-sorry!” She moved to resume her seat, but was grabbed by a young, blond-haired man before she could.

“The Al Bhed!” Wakka shouted as he and Tidus leapt off the shoopuf. I cursed my arm, cursed my inability to hold my breath, and hoped that Tidus and Wakka would be able to rescue Yuna.

I needn’t have worried: before long, Yuna was safely back on the shoopuf.

“Are you hurt?” Lulu asked, checking her over for wounds.

“No, I’m fine,” Yuna assured her. She looked a little shaken, but okay overall.

“Grrah, those Al Bhed!” Wakka grumbled, shaking his fist in the general direction of the battle.

“Ish ebullibody okay?” the driver called from his seat.

“I’m sorry!” Yuna responded, standing and waving to him. “We’re all okay now!”

“ _Yuna!_ ” I barked.

“Oh!” she gasped, quickly sitting down and folding her hands in her lap.

“Shoopuf full shpeed aheads!” the hypello declared happily, nudging the shoopuf onward.

“Damn the Al Bhed!” Wakka continued. “What do they want from us? Could it have something to do with Luca? What are they after Yuna for?” He furrowed his brow. “Wait! They’re mad they lost the tournament! Or, _wait!_ They’re mad about Operation Mi’ihen!”

“I wonder…” Lulu broke in. “On the Mi’ihen Highroad, didn’t Kimahri’s clansman say something about summoners… disappearing?”

“Ah!” Wakka slammed a fist into his other hand. “So the Al Bhed are behind that! Those sand-blasted grease monkeys!”

A few of us exchanged uncomfortable side glances, unwilling to address Wakka’s extreme hatred outright.

Tidus slid down in his seat. “Hey, Wakka.” Everyone turned to look at him, grateful for the distraction. “It’s no use complaining about the Al Bhed now, right? We’ll protect Yuna from anyone, anywhere. It’s that easy. That’s all I need to know!”

“Well… I guess so.”

Lulu smiled. “You’re right.”

Yuna chanced a giggle. The remainder of our ride to the north bank of the Moonflow was comfortably quiet.

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, Tidus was familiar with our attackers: he found one of them washed up on the shore.

“Yuna, Lulu… I told you about her, remember?” he enthused. “She was the one who helped me before I was washed up on Besaid! She’s an Al Bhe… beh…”

Yuna and Lulu exchanged glances. Fortunately, Wakka hadn’t caught on.

“Wow, so you, like, owe her your life! What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon!” He bowed in the Yevon prayer as the young woman—Rikku—scratched her head. I stifled a laugh.

“So, uh… Rikku… You look a little beat up,” Wakka continued. “You okay?”

“Uh, Wakka…” Lulu interrupted.

“Huh? What?”

“There’s something _we_ need to discuss,” Yuna said, gesturing toward Rikku.

“Oh,” Wakka nodded. “Go ‘head.”

“Girls only!” Rikku declared, forming a huddle with Lulu and Yuna. “Boys please wait over there!”

A smile tugged at the corner of Lulu’s mouth. “Right. Sorry, Wakka.”

“Huh? What?” Wakka looked perplexed as Yuna, Lulu, and Rikku stood just out of earshot of the rest of us. I chanced a laugh: it was bittersweet, but it was at times like this that I felt like the parent of the group.

As Lulu, Yuna, and Rikku seemed to reach an agreement, they approached me.

“Sir Auron…” Yuna began. “I would like Rikku to be my guardian.”

I nodded and closed the gap between myself and Rikku, who was looking at the ground. “Show me your face.”

“Ah?” She seemed startled. Was I so intimidating, even to her?

“Look at me.”

“Oh, okay.” She raised her head, only to close her eyes.

“Open your eyes,” I said, as if coaxing a fussy child into cooperating.

She partially opened one eye. Green, with a dark spiral for a pupil.

“As I thought,” I said. Mara’s eyes had been similar—probably the reason Yuna’s eyes looked as they did. When she refused to show me her eyes—when Tidus almost said she was Al Bhed—I guessed she would be afraid I would reject her because of it.

“Um… no good?” she asked, returning her gaze to the ground.

“Are you certain?” I recalled how enthusiastic Mara had been when Anya decided to end her pilgrimage, and I doubted the people as a whole had changed their view on summoners and the way they “sacrificed” themselves.

Rikku smiled up at me and nodded. “A hundred percent! So, anyway… can I?”

I looked over at Yuna. “If Yuna wishes it.”

Yuna’s expression was soft, hopeful. “Yes, I do.”

Wakka grunted disapprovingly as I stepped away. We had to press onward, and although I knew Yuna’s goodbyes as she left each place we visited were more permanent, I hadn’t been to this place in ten years. It was… stirring up more memories than I thought it would.

I inhaled the scent of the moonlilies one last time before we continued down the road to Guadosalam, mentally bidding goodbye to Anya as I did. I was certain I’d be able to feel her again in other places, just as I had here, but for now, I had to focus on our journey.


	5. Visions of the Past

When we reached Guadosalam, we were greeted by a man I recognized as Tromell, though he was much older: his hair had become more gnarled, his skin a little paler, and his back a little more hunched.

“We have been expecting you, Lady Yuna,” he said, his voice the same as ever. “Welcome to Guadosalam. This way, my lady. This way.” He reached for Yuna’s hand.

Yuna withdrew slightly. “Uh, me?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Wakka blocked Tromell’s hand and stared him down. The rest of the group was curious, though less vocal. I had to admit, I wondered why Tromell was so quick to want to whisk Yuna away…

“Oh, I beg your pardon,” he said. “I’m called Tromell Guado. I am in the direct service of our leader, the great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna.”

_Him again…_ I managed not to scoff.

“Business with me? Whatever could it be, I wonder?”

“Please, come inside the manor,” Tromell said, his voice inviting, but masking something I couldn’t quite place. “All will be explained. Of course, your friends are also welcome.”

The way he said the word “friends” rubbed me the wrong way, as though Yuna’s guardians were insignificant. Something had changed in him since I had seen him last. I kept my eye on him as we proceeded into the city, and entered the manor after him.

As Tromell vanished into the chambers beyond, we gathered in a foyer of sorts, with twin grand staircases leading up each side of the room. Photos of past Guado leaders lined the walls. A guard stood on the balcony above, his eyes boring into each of us as we waited for Tromell’s return.

After an explanation from Lulu about Seymour’s parentage, Tidus wandered over to Yuna and Kimahri.

“Why does he want to see me?” Yuna wondered aloud, the nervousness in her voice more than apparent.

“Kimahri not like Maester Seymour,” Kimahri noted. Though I felt the urge to smile at his bluntness, I was glad that someone shared my impressions: it wasn’t as though anyone else had had much time to get to know him.

“Aah! Ssh!” Yuna scolded.

A brief look of hurt and surprise flashed across the Ronso’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, and it was once again vacant.

“Kimahri speak no more,” he declared.

It was about then that Tromell emerged from the doors and ushered us through them into another room, a grand hall with a banquet lavish enough to feed an army. I recalled such a spectacle from my first visit to Guadosalam, and though the layout then had certainly been impressive, it had seemed less like bragging: Seymour was certainly not shy about flaunting his new power.

From beside Rikku, who was digging into the smorgasbord laid out before us, Tidus examined the buffet with a suspicious eye. As did I: though I doubted he would be so blatant about it, part of me wondered if it was poisoned, enchanted, or altered in some other way I couldn’t imagine. I was sure I was being paranoid, but Seymour had always rubbed me the wrong way, even since he was a child, and the feeling of this place was subtlely malicious.

“Stay on your guard,” I warned Tidus as he wandered over to me.

“Why? This guy’s just a priest, right?”

“Those with power use that power. Maesters have power.”

Tidus threw me a sideways glance. “Wait… you sure you don’t have something against Yevon?”

I had grown up in Besaid’s temple. Yevon had given me a life… and taken it all away. Since returning to Spira after ten years in Jecht’s Zanarkand, I felt like I was seeing it with new eyes: the manipulation, the machinations… Yevon hid dark secrets, and I was sure I didn’t know them all.

I chuckled at the irony. “I lived a long time in Zanarkand.”

“Aah.”

Trommel reappeared from beyond the heavy doors, commanding everyone’s attention. “Truly, it is good to have guests again. Since Lord Jyscal passed away, these halls have been too quiet.”

“The death of Lord Jyscal was a great loss for all of Spira,” Yuna said sincerely.

“Was this Maester Jyscal really such a great guy?” Tidus asked Wakka in a failed attempt at an aside.

“He brought the teachings of Yevon to the Guado,” Wakka replied. “He was truly a great man.”

“Truly, a loss for us all,” Trommel nodded. “But now a new leader, Lord Seymour, has come before us. Lord Seymour is the child of a Guado and a human. He will be the tie that binds our two races together. But that is not all, I think. Lord Seymour…” he spread his arms wide, as though to bask in Seymour’s invisible—or perhaps imagined—glory. “He will surely become the shining star that lights the way for all the peoples of Spira.”

“That is enough, Tromell,” Seymour interrupted, finally gracing us with his presence. “Must I always endure such praise?” He gave us Yevon’s prayer. “Welcome!”

“You… wanted to see me?” Yuna asked.

“Please, make yourselves at home,” Seymour said casually. “There’s no rush.”

“Please,” I said through gritted teeth. “Keep this short. Yuna must rush.”

“Pardon me,” he replied with a gentle nod. “It has been a long time since I had guests. Lady Yuna, this way.”

We gathered on the platform at the far side of the hall, and Seymour activated a device. What came into being around us was… astounding. It was a simulation, a recreation of Zanarkand, just as it had been when I lived there, watching over Tidus. We were standing on solid ground, but I looked down and found nothing under my feet. I kept my feelings to myself, though the others were fascinated.

“This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead that wander the Farplane,” Seymour explained as the scene moved around us, taking us through Zanarkand’s streets.

“Zanarkand!” Tidus exclaimed.

“Correct,” Seymour confirmed. “Zanarkand… as it looked one thousand years ago. The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand.” He looked around. I had stopped marveling to keep my eye on him: he was uncomfortably close to Yuna. He looked over at her. “She once lived in this metropolis.”

“She who?” Yuna replied.

Our surroundings shifted, and we were suddenly inside someone’s private chambers. A woman with long, white hair sat on the bed. Her clothes barely covered her body. I recognized this figure.

“Lady Yunalesca!” Yuna gasped.

“She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages,” Seymour said. “And you have inherited her name.”

“It was my father who named me,” Yuna said. Something about her expression made me think that she was only half-present.

“Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task. He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone.” Seymour began an elongated version of the Yevon prayer. I guessed he was playing on Yuna’s feelings—toward Yevon, toward her father—but to what end? “To defeat the undefeatable Sin… it took an unbreakable bond of love—of the kind that binds two hearts for eternity.”

A man entered the chamber, dressed in ornate armor. He passed through Yuna, who shielded her chest with her arms, and walked over to Yunalesca, embracing her. Yuna looked down, a hint of a blush creeping across her cheeks. I looked over at the embracing couple, Yunalesca and Zaon, and thought briefly about my pilgrimage with Anya. If we had reached Zanarkand, with the way things had been then…

_Perhaps_ I _would have been the one facing Braska’s final aeon._ Maybe it was a good thing that my perspective had changed so much.

I looked over at Yuna. Seymour was murmuring something in her ear, and her hand was over her mouth. When he straightened, the scene around us faded, and Yuna dashed for a glass of water on a nearby table, downing the whole thing and wiping her mouth. She turned around, and we gathered around her.

“Wow! Your face is beet red!” Rikku chuckled.

“You okay?” Tidus asked.

“Mm… ahh… I…” Yuna glanced quickly at Seymour—who was still watching her—and then looked down. “He… he asked me to marry him!”

“You serious?” Tidus asked. He looked over at Seymour, but didn’t move from his place by Yuna. “Hey!”

I was sure this wasn’t Seymour’s endgame, but I felt a flash of anger. Yuna was a naïve, headstrong young woman, and it felt as though he was trying to take advantage of her.

“You know what Yuna must do,” I said, trying to ferret out some idea about his true motives.

“Of course,” Seymour replied, no change in his inflection. “Lady Yuna—no, all summoners—are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon.”

“Spira is no playhouse,” I snapped. Was this all pretend to him? A game? I felt heated on behalf of Yuna’s parents: what was he trying to suck their daughter into? “A moment’s diversion may amuse an audience, but it changes nothing.”

“Even so, the actors must play their parts.” Seymour approached Yuna, his figure seeming more imposing over hers as she shrank away. “There’s no need to answer right away. Please, think it over.”

Yuna stammered, trying to find her voice.

“We will do so, then,” I responded for her. “We leave.” I touched Yuna’s shoulder, trying to signal to her that we needed to go.

“Lady Yuna, I await your favorable reply,” Seymour said. As we turned to leave, he spoke once more, directing his words at me: “Why are you still here, sir?”

I froze. I knew precisely what he was talking about, and I was not about to answer him. Aside from the answer being long and complicated, it was none of his business.

“I beg your pardon,” he continued with a polite bow. “We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane.”

Tidus, who had been next to me, sniffed my coat curiously. I scoffed and pushed him aside, striding out the door. I was done with this place.

Outside the mansion, we gathered in a huddle to discuss Seymour’s proposition. I was only half-listening for part of the conversation—I kept wondering what Braska might say if he were here—but I refocused when I heard Yuna pipe up.

“If my getting married would help Spira… if it would make people happy…” Of course she’d be thinking about the good of Spira. “If I could do that for people… maybe I should do what I can. I never imagined doing anything like this. But, I won’t answer ‘til I know what’s right.”

“Seriously?” Tidus asked.

“You could always just quit your pilgrimage and get married,” Rikku suggested.

“I will… go on. I’m sure that Lord Seymour will understand.”

“Umm, I guess so…” Rikku trailed off. I was sure she hated being shut down, sure she wanted Yuna to be safely away from Zanarkand, Sin, and the pilgrimage. She reminded me of Mara.

“I am a summoner!” Yuna said determinedly. “I must fight and defeat Sin.”

“Like Braska before you,” I chimed in, trying to find a way to communicate to Yuna that while it was her decision, I wanted her to consider the path she had already chosen, and the reasons she chose it. She had wanted to become a summoner, and she did it regardless of what anyone else thought. She didn’t have to get married just to distract the people of Spira from Sin.

“I’m going to the Farplane,” Yuna decided. “I’m going to see my father and think on this.”

“Go on,” Lulu said. “We’ll be right behind you.”

“Mm.”

 

* * *

 

Most of the others headed up the stairs to the Farplane, but I took a seat on one of the steps. Tidus shot me a look.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I do not belong there.”

“Ohohoho! You’re scared!”

I was a little scared that I’d think of Paine and see her there. I was more scared that if I went in, I’d never be able to get out, and I wouldn’t be able to keep my promises to Braska and Jecht. Even from this distance, I felt the Farplane pulling at me.

“Searching the past to find the future…” I began, trying to come up with some excuse to stay behind. “This is all that is there. I need it not.” I nodded toward the Farplane. “You’d better be going.”

“You’re not really going to see the dead, more like your memories of them,” Rikku offered. “People think of their relatives, and the pyreflies react to them. They take on the form of the dead person—an illusion, nothing else.”

Tidus pondered Rikku’s explanation. I’d heard of the Al Bhed thinking this way about the Farplane before. Though it was interesting to think about, I knew it wasn’t quite true.

“Well, have fun!” Rikku waved Tidus off.

“What, you’re not going either, Rikku?”

Rikku looked down thoughtfully. “I keep my memories inside.”

“Huh?”

“Memories are nice, but that’s all they are.” She sat down on the railing opposite me and took a little red ball out of her pocket. “See you later!”

Tidus jogged up the stairs to catch up to the others, and I reflected on the last time I was here. I had longed to rest, to be in Anya’s arms again, but her words lingered in my mind: that it wasn’t my time, that Paine was still alive, that I had promises to keep. Here, I was so close to everyone I’d lost, everyone I loved. My resolve wavered.

_I’ve found friends to care about, reasons to stay,_ I reminded myself. _But that doesn’t—_

I felt something hit my leg. “Hey!”

_Maybe not this one._

I glared at Rikku. “What?”

“You got some kinda beef with me?”

“Some kind of what?”

“Why do you seem so grumpy all the time?”

“I’ve lost a lot. Things you don’t need to know about.”

“Sharing is caring.”

I scowled and turned to face her. “My best friends are in the Farplane. That should be all you need to know.”

“Maybe, but I think there’s more to it than that. Come on—Dr. Rikku is in the house! Tell me everything.” She propped her head on her hands and looked at me with inquisitive eyes.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nnnnope.”

I sighed. “Fine. I… this is my third pilgrimage. My second was with Braska. The first…”

“What happened?”

“She died on Mt. Gagazet.”

“‘She?’”

“She.”

“Well, tell me more!”

I touched Anya’s necklace. “She was my wife.”

“Oooh, the juicy gossip comes out!” Rikku said excitedly. Her expression quickly turned somber. “You said she died?”

“Yes.”

“Auron, I’m… I’m sorry. Why don’t you go visit her?”

I tried to think of a suitable answer. “Because I’m selfish. Because she’s mine, and no one else needs to see her.”

“O-oh… I understand. So… why are you telling me this?”

I gritted my teeth. “Because you wouldn’t _let it go._ ”

“Oh, right… oopsie.” She grinned innocently, an attempt at an apology.

“There was one other thing.”

Rikku looked up from retrieving her ball. “Oh?”

“My wife and I had a daughter. She’d be… a little older than you are, now.”

“What happened to her?”

“Lost. In a Sin attack. Not killed, but lost. I’ve been looking for her. And when I look at you…”

She held her breath, seeming to hang on my words. “Yes?”

“I’d like to hope that she’d be more mature.”

Rikku looked as though she was about to say something, then turned around;—hesitated for a moment;—then turned back to me.

“I’m mature!”

“You attacked us at the Moonflow. We have a choice between action and words. You chose poorly.”

“I’m just afraid! Yuna is my cousin and I don’t want her to die! Is that so bad?”

“There’s a time to be afraid, and there’s a time to face your fears and defeat them. That time is now, more than ever. Yuna needs you not to be afraid.”

“I… I can do that, for Yunie. So what if I try to figure out how to keep her from throwing her life away while we’re at it?”

“She needs you focused. She needs you at your best.”

She was quiet for a minute as she continued to throw her ball. “You know… you remind me a bit of someone.”

I scoffed. “Do I now?”

“Yeah. He’s grumpy, too.”

Rikku and I sat in comfortable silence for a few moments until the rest of the party returned from the Farplane.

“Thanks for waiting!” Yuna said, her tone much lighter than before. I wondered what had happened in there, what she had decided. “I’ll go give my answer to Maester Seymour.”

Before we could proceed, gasps from those in the vicinity and awed pointing drew our attention back to the barrier to the Farplane.

“Lord Jyscal!?”

“Lord Jyscal!”

I recognized the figure. The form of the deceased Guado leader was attempting to push his way out of the Farplane, and making a dreadful groaning sound.

“He does not belong here,” I observed.

“Why?” Yuna asked the figure.

“Yuna, send him.”

Yuna ran back up the stairs, and I realized I was closer to the Farplane than I had intended to get. The pull was stronger here, and pyreflies began swarming around me. I dropped to my knees, fighting them off, doing my best to remain among the living.

“Lord Jyscal…” Yuna breathed.

“He is Lord Jyscal no more,” Lulu said. “Send him now!”

Yuna nodded and performed a brief sending for him. A sphere tumbled out of his robes as he was forced back into the Farplane. Yuna picked it up and pocketed it.

I managed to stand, but the pull was getting worse with Jyscal’s sending. The Guado would likely be in an uproar over Jyscal, and we didn’t need to stick around to complicate matters. “Talk later,” I rasped. “We leave now.”

We made our way back along the path to Guadosalam, and I began to feel better, albeit still weakened from being in such close proximity to the Farplane. Wakka was the first one to speak after we were safely out of earshot of the Guado.

“Wha… what was that just now? That really Lord Jyscal?”

“I don’t understand how a man like Lord Jyscal could die and not be sent,” Yuna said, understandably upset.

“I would think that he was sent once,” Lulu said. “But he stayed on Spira. Something, a powerful emotion could have bound him to this world. Such things happen.”

Rikku looked up at Lulu. “That’s against the rules, isn’t it?”

“It means he died an unclean death,” I said knowingly. I wondered what it could have been that made Jyscal try to escape the Farplane, and why it was now.

We made it to the mansion again, and Yuna’s expression was determined.

“I will go… meet with Maester Seymour.”

“Yuna!” I called. She paused. “Jyscal is the Guado’s problem, not yours.” I wasn’t sure whether or not she would actually listen, but I had known her long enough to recognize her tendency to shoulder every one of Spira’s burdens. I didn’t want her to agree to marry Seymour just to try to deal with it.

Yuna entered the manor, and we split off to discuss. Lulu took Tidus aside, and Rikku followed me.

“You don’t think… Yuna isn’t going to get married, is she?”

I stared at the doors to the manor. “Honestly, I hope not.”

“I wouldn’t mind if she quit her pilgrimage, but…” she threw a glance at Tidus. “I don’t think she’d really be happy with Seymour. I just…”

“I know.” I sighed. “I can’t help feeling that he’d try to use her somehow. Either her status as a summoner, or her notoriety because she’s Braska’s daughter. I promised him I’d take care of her…”

“Wait,” Rikku said. “You knew Yunie’s dad?”

“I was his guardian,” I explained. “I thought everyone knew that.”

“Must’ve missed the news story,” Rikku chuckled. Her expression turned serious again. “Does that mean… did you know Yuna’s mother, too?”

“Mara? We were good friends, back when… before…” I was unsure of how to finish my sentence. “We were practically family.”

“Mara was my father’s sister,” Rikku explained. “She was coming to visit him when—”

“I remember,” I said.

“He’s always blamed himself for that, you know,” she said quietly. “If he had just gone to visit her, or if he hadn’t been so distant after she married ‘one of those dang Yevonites,’ he used to say. He misses her all the time.” After a silent moment, her face suddenly brightened. “Hey, if you two were practically family, does that mean I get to call you ‘Uncle Auron’ now?”

“Not a chance.”

Rikku shrugged. “Just kidding!” She crossed her arms. “I just… I want everything to be okay.”

“So do I.”

Just then, Tidus called us over, informing us that Seymour was no longer in Guadosalam. We called Yuna back from the mansion, and convened in front of its entrance once more.

“They say Seymour went to Macarena Temple,” Tidus said.

“ _Macalania_ Temple,” Wakka corrected.

“Aye,” Tidus nodded.

“What I don’t get is,” Wakka continued. “Why would the lord maester head off without a peep to anyone?”

“Maybe he wasn’t expecting Yuna’s answer so soon,” Rikku suggested.

“Ah, that’s probably it.”

Yuna sighed, her expression far away.

“Yuna, what is it?” I asked.

She looked almost startled at the mention of her name. “Oh, nothing.”

“Hmm… you’re a poor liar.”

“It’s true! It’s nothing!” she insisted. “Come on, let’s go.”

I knew there was something on Yuna’s mind. Perhaps she had found something in the manor that she was choosing not to share with us: she must have learned Seymour was not there soon after entering the main hall, and even after, she spent a long time there. What had she been doing? What had she seen that was weighing so heavily on her?

We made our way out of Guadosalam and to the entrance to the Gandof Thunder Plains. Rikku looked very uncomfortable as we paused.

“Oh, no… we’re here.” Thunder crashed as lightning split the sky, and she shrank back with a yelp.

“How are we supposed to cross that?” Tidus asked, scanning the plains.

“See the lightning rod towers?” Lulu said, pointing to a misshapen tower. “The lightning is drawn to them… hopefully.”

“We head north, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?” Wakka said.

“Meaning we should avoid wide, open areas,” Lulu continued.

Another crack of lightning interrupted her, and Rikku cowered away from it. “I think I forgot something in Guadosalam,” she said sheepishly.

“Nice knowing you,” I said over my shoulder.

“Okay, okay! I’ll go!” she whined. We set off across the Thunder Plains, a very unhappy Rikku voicing her protest the whole way through.

 

* * *

 

After stopping briefly at a Travel Agency about halfway through the Thunder Plains—at Rikku’s insistence—we were almost across the northern half, the trees of Macalania in sight.

“Everyone… wait,” Yuna said, halting the party.

“What’s up?” Wakka asked.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Here?” Lulu asked.

“We’re almost out of here!” Rikku enthused. “Let’s go!”

“I have to say it now!” Yuna hadn’t looked up.

To our left, I spotted a lightning tower with a shelter of sorts built into it; that would at least keep us a little drier. “Over there.”

We gathered under the overhang. Yuna met no one’s eyes as she spoke.

“I’ve… decided to marry.”

Lulu shook her head. “I thought so.”

Rikku flinched at another bolt of lightning as Wakka approached Yuna. “B-but why? Why’d you change your mind?”

“For Spira’s future… and Yevon’s unity. I thought it would be the best thing to do.”

“That’s not good enough,” I said. Yuna was going to make herself miserable for nothing, if those were her reasons: nothing was going to change.

“Wait, is it…” Lulu began. “Is it because of Lord Jyscal?”

“Hey! That sphere!” Tidus exclaimed.

_Sphere?_ The one Jyscal had dropped when he was fighting to get out of the Farplane? She had watched it? I stepped closer to Yuna. “Show me.”

Yuna lowered her eyes. “I can’t. I must speak to Maester Seymour first. I truly am sorry, but this is…” she looked up. “It is a personal matter.”

“You’re kidding, ya?” Wakka exclaimed.

I turned away. “As you wish.”

“I’m sorry,” Yuna said softly. It felt like it was less to me and more to everyone.

“Just one thing,” I began.

“I won’t quit my pilgrimage,” she said. She had known what I was going to ask.

“Then it is… fine.”

“Wait a minute, Auron!” Tidus interrupted. “You don’t care? I mean, you’re not going to stop her?”

“No, I’m not,” I said. “As long as she is willing to face Sin… all else is her concern. That is a summoner’s privilege. As long as she journeys.”

Tidus looked to Lulu and Wakka for support, but received none. “But that’s…” He growled in exasperation and kicked the air. I knew how he felt. I didn’t want her to get married, either, though I was certain my reasons were different. But I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop her, even if I tried. She was set on doing something—though I didn’t know what—and she was determined to do it alone.

“Yuna, just one question,” Wakka said. “Can’t you just talk to Maester Seymour? You’ve _got_ to marry him?”

“I don’t know,” Yuna replied. “But I think it is the right thing to do.”

“Okay, I guess.”

“Yunie…” Rikku said, placing her hands on Yuna’s shoulders as another crack of thunder echoed through the Plains, accompanied by lightning. Rikku blinked hard, then glared up at the sky. “Quiet!” She turned back to Yuna. “I wish we could help somehow, some way!”

Yuna put a hand over Rikku’s. “It’s okay,” she said softly. “I’ll… be fine.”

There was silence for a moment. I think we were all questioning whether or not Yuna _would_ be “fine.” Even if Yuna was determined, she seemed so uncertain, and it made me uncomfortable.

I tried to break some of the tension. “Next, we’re going to Macalania Temple. Yuna can talk with Seymour there. We guardians will wait until they’re done, and plan our next move. Understood?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really proud of the scenes between Auron and Rikku. I know there's a ship around them, but I never got that vibe. Fortunately, this gives me the chance to explain why. And there's more to come, too! ;)


	6. Macalania

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for Al Bhed translations.

We made it through the rest of the Thunder Plains and into Macalania Woods. I took a deep breath as the rest of the group continued on. This was _my_ place. Tidus hung back, looking on at Yuna with concern.

“You’re worried about Yuna.”

“‘Course I’m worried about her,” he said. “What is she thinking?”

“The simplest answer would be… in exchange for agreeing to marry him… she hopes to negotiate with Seymour.”

“Negotiate what?”

“I wonder.”

“What? All by herself?”

I chuckled. “She’s strong, but Seymour’s the better negotiator.”

“Well then, why don’t we do something about it?”

“Yuna wants it this way.”

“Argh! I just don’t get it! Doesn’t she trust us?”

“On the contrary… she doesn’t want us caught up in whatever it is that she’s planning.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But that makes me worry even more. She could just tell us.”

“That’s the way she is. She’s naïve, serious to a fault, and doesn’t ask for help.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Yuna’s easy to read.” _Just like another young summoner was…_

Tidus laughed. “Yeah, she is.”

“But hard to guard. Stand by her…” I looked around, seeing Anya everywhere. “Always.”

 

* * *

 

In the northern part of Macalania Woods, just before crossing over to the snowy path to the Temple, I pulled Tidus and Yuna aside. My feet knew where to go, though the path had become remarkably overgrown in the last ten years.

“Wait,” I said. “It is here… somewhere.”

“What’s here?” Tidus asked.

“Something you should see.”

“But, Sir Auron…” Yuna said gently.

“It won’t take long.” I pulled out my katana and began to slash through the foliage, the debris sparkling like crystals as it flew away. After I had cut a workable path through, I stood back and shouldered my blade, then motioned for the two to follow me.

Perhaps the past could guide the future once more.

We entered the clearing and found the spring. Nothing about it had changed.

“This place…” Tidus began as the others joined us. “It’s just water, isn’t it?”

“This is what spheres are made of,” I explained. “It absorbs and preserves people’s memories.”

The liquid in the spring began to tremble, and a Spherimorph took shape over the pool.

“What’s that?” Wakka gasped.

“Fiends are also attracted to these places,” I sighed. With some difficulty, we managed to defeat the Spherimorph, and in its place, we found a sphere. I recognized it immediately.

“Whoa, this is old!” Wakka exclaimed. “Don’t know if you can play it back.”

“Jecht left it here ten years ago,” I said. The others gasped in shock. I turned to Tidus. “Play it back.”

He nodded and played the sphere. I watched as Braska, Jecht, and I left Bevelle, as we posed outside the Macalania Travel Agency. I listened to Jecht’s heartfelt goodbye, just days before he became Braska’s Final Aeon. He had changed so much since the day Braska and I met him.

“He sounded almost serious,” Tidus said after playback ended. “But it was too late.”

“He _was_ serious. Jecht had already accepted his fate,” I said.

“His fate?”

“Jecht, he… he was always talking about going home, to Zanarkand. That’s why he took all those pictures—to show them to you when he returned. But as he journeyed with us and came to understand Spira, and Braska’s resolve… it happened gradually, but Jecht changed. He decided he would join Braska in his fight against Sin.”

Tidus looked thoughtful. “So then, he gave up going home?”

“That was his decision.”

After a moment, Tidus stood, his eyes fiery and determined. “All right! Let’s go, guys!” He turned to leave with the others.

“Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Jecht loved you.”

“Oh, come on, please!”

“He just didn’t know how to express it, he said.”

“Enough about my old man, okay?”

“I just thought you should know,” I said. Jecht had never recorded it, and I didn’t know if he’d ever really said it to Tidus’ face. If that was something I could do, to let Tidus know that his father did care…

I had found myself thinking about such things: that Yuna would barely remember her parents telling her they loved her, that I might never get the chance to tell Paine that Anya loved her so much that she wanted to beat Sin for her, that I loved her so much that I refused death to try to find her. I could at least tell Tidus that Jecht cared.

We trooped out of the woods, stopping only for a moment at the Travel Agency to replenish our stock of supplies, before Trommel approached us.

“Lady Yuna, we’ve been expecting you. We were surprised you decided to come so soon. Pleasantly surprised, of course.” Trommel bowed deeply. “Lord Seymour sends his apologies for having left without notice.”

“It’s quite all right,” Yuna assured him. “I have one question, if I may, sir.”

“My lady?”

“I want to keep journeying, even if I marry. Do you think that Maester Seymour would let me?”

“But of course, my lady. Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I’m sure.”

Yuna smiled and turned back to us. “Goodbye.”

“Well… we must follow Guado tradition,” Trommel said. “I’ll have to ask you wait here a little while longer. I’ll send someone to escort you.” He began to walk toward Macalania Temple.

Yuna moved to follow him, but then stopped. “I…”

“We’re all with you,” I assured her. “Do as you will.”

She seemed a little reassured by that. “Thank you.” She continued to follow Trommel.

“ _‘Sorry,’_ ” I said to Tidus as we watched Yuna and Trommel walk away.

“Eh?”

“That was your line.”

Tidus ran over to the edge of the path. “Yuna!” he called. He whistled loudly.

From below us, Yuna chuckled and smiled genuinely. “Yessir!”

We heard a distant rumbling noise, and Rikku donned an alarmed expression. “Oh no!” Snowmobiles swarmed Yuna and Trommel on the frozen lake, completely surrounding them.

“Al Bhed!” Wakka yelled as we rushed forward to protect Yuna.

“Stand back,” I told Trommel and Yuna as we faced them down.

“Thank you,” he said weakly as he began to lead Yuna away. She followed him for a few steps, then pulled her hand from his grasp and ran back to join us in the fray.

“Lady Yuna!” Trommel cried, to no avail.

As we came face-to-face with the Al Bhed on the snowmobiles, they scattered suddenly. We looked around before a large, tank-like machina crawled over a nearby snowbank.

“Rikku!” its driver shouted. “ _Tuh’d ehdanvana un oui kad drec!_ ” The tank pulled into bombardment range, clanging and shaking dangerously. “ _Ouin bnaleuic_ magic _yht_ aeons _yna caymat!_ ”

“Oh, no!” Rikku yiped.

“Translation?” Tidus asked.

“He’s gonna use an anti-magic field on us!” she said.

“ _Kad dras!_ ” the Al Bhed man called, motioning the tank forward. We managed to wipe out its anti-magic field, followed by the tank itself, which went up in flames and explosions.

“My lady!” Trommel said again after the battle had concluded. He led Yuna away again, this time successfully.

“Rikku!” the Al Bhed man called once more. “ _E femm damm Vydran!_ ”

“ _E ys dra_ guardian _uv_ Yuna, _oui caa?_ ” Rikku pled. “Yuna _ec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!_ ”

“ _Oui tu drec ymuha, cecdan!_ ” The man called before he left.

Rikku turned to Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu, laughing nervously and scratching the side of her head. “I told him I was a guardian. Well, guess I had to, really.”

“How come you speak Al Bhed?” Wakka interrogated. “Why?”

“Uh… well…” Tidus said, attempting to come up with some kind of answer to continue the ruse.

“Because I’m Al Bhed,” Rikku admitted. “And that… was my brother.”

Wakka glared at Tidus and Lulu. “You knew?” They nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We knew you’d be upset,” Lulu said simply.

“This is great. I can’t believe I’ve been traveling with an Al Bhed—a heathen!”

“You’re wrong! We have nothing against Yevon,” Rikku argued.

“But you Al Bhed use the forbidden machina! You know what that means? Sin was born because people used machina!”

“You got proof? Show me proof!”

“It’s in Yevon’s teachings! Not that you’d know!”

“That’s not good enough! Yevon says this, Yevon says that. Can’t you think for yourself?”

I left them to argue and walked over to investigate some of the snowmobiles that the Al Bhed had abandoned in their retreat. I didn’t know much Al Bhed, but I knew enough to understand that there was some concern about Yuna’s safety. It was interesting that the Al Bhed were choosing to attempt to ensure her safety by trying to kill her and her guardians, but without more information, I couldn’t guess what they were doing. Then, there was the matter of the sphere Yuna wouldn’t show us. Jyscal’s sphere. I knew Seymour had to be related to it somehow, but again, I didn’t know how. The only thing I knew for certain was that I wasn’t waiting for an escort to the temple: we needed to get there, _now_.

“Rikku!” I called.

She looked over. “Hm?”

“Will this move?”

“Yes!” she said enthusiastically, running over to the snowmobile and examining it.

“We’re not using that, are we?” Wakka whined. “Wait… Sir Auron isn’t an Al Bhed too, is he?”

“Come on, Wakka…” Tidus sighed.

“What?”

“I mean, getting angry just ‘cause you found out Rikku’s an Al Bhed… you guys got along just fine ‘til now, didn’t you?”

“That’s different. I mean…”

“Well, I don’t claim to know that much about Spira,” Tidus began. “And I probably know even less about the Al Bhed, but… I know Rikku’s a good person. She’s just Rikku!”

Wakka looked defeated. “Lu?”

“Just think of this as an opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed,” she suggested.

“Ha!” Wakka stormed off. Tidus looked like he was about to follow him.

“Let him go. Give him time to think,” I advised as the others looked on.

Rikku stood up from the machine she was examining. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve done nothing to apologize for,” Lulu promised her.

“All right, let’s ride!” Tidus said, eyeing the now-upright snowmobile.

“You sure you know how to drive this?” Rikku asked coyly.

“Better than Kimahri does,” Tidus laughed as the Ronso climbed aboard one of the snowmobiles and took off toward the temple. With Wakka on foot, we had two machines between the four of us. Lulu climbed on the back of Tidus’ snowmobile, and I motioned for Rikku to drive, having no idea how the thing worked.

“I think you need the practice,” she said. “It’s easy, really.” She showed me the controls, and I climbed into the driver’s seat. She held onto my coat, and we led the way down the path to the temple.

The weather was clear that day, not unlike when I had walked the path with Jecht and Braska. I chuckled to myself: Braska would probably think I looked ridiculous, attempting to drive this contraption. So would Jecht, come to think of it, having grown up in Zanarkand.

“Auron?”

I shook myself from my thoughts. Probably better to focus on driving, anyway. “Yes?”

“Back in Guadosalam, you mentioned… you had a daughter?”

I sighed. “That’s correct.”

“How… long has it been since you’ve seen her?”

“She was little more than a month old the day Sin attacked the Travel Agency we were staying at,” I said.

Rikku’s voice was sympathetic. “You really haven’t seen her since?”

I hesitated. “I assume you’ve heard about Operation Mi’ihen?”

“Mm.”

“I thought… I thought I saw her there, just for a second, out of the corner of my eye. But I cannot be certain: when I turned to look, she was gone. When I think of the possibility that I was so close to her, that I could have… that she might…!”

“Hey,” Rikku put a hand on my shoulder. “She’s _your_ daughter, right? She’s gotta know how to take care of herself.”

“I… appreciate the thought, Rikku.”

She was quiet for a moment. “You know… I think you’re doing a great job looking after Yunie.”

“Ah?”

“You said you promised her father you’d take care of her,” she explained. “I think he’d be really happy, you know? And I think Yunie’s happy, too.”

Any thanks I might have expressed caught in my throat. I hoped she was right.

“You can be a real meanie sometimes,” Rikku continued, “but any girl would be lucky to have you as her father.”

She hugged me from behind, and a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

“Rikku?”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al Bhed translations:
> 
> “Tuh’d ehdanvana un oui kad drec!” == "Don't interfere or you get this!"
> 
> “Ouin bnaleuic magic yht aeons yna caymat!” == "Your precious magic and aeons are sealed!"
> 
> “Kad dras!” == "Get them!"
> 
> “E femm damm Vydran!” == "I will tell Father!"
> 
> “E ys dra guardian uv Yuna, oui caa?” / “Yuna ec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!” == "I am the guardian of Yuna, you see?" / "Yuna is safe! We will guard her! She is safe!"
> 
> “Oui tu drec ymuha, cecdan!” == "You do this alone, sister!"


	7. A Hot Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for Al Bhed translations.

We had fought and killed a maester. I looked up at the temple from beneath the ice, the hymn floating down from the Chamber of the Fayth. Although I didn’t know where it would leave us, I felt somewhat vindicated: my bad feeling about Seymour, present since that first time I’d met him all those years ago, had been correct. He had killed Jyscal. By the elder Guado’s own admission, Seymour was “using Yevon, the Guado, and even the summoners.”

I glanced at Yuna, unconscious from our fall through the ice. Jyscal had been a good man, if a misguided one. He didn’t deserve death, and especially not the death he’d been handed. I didn’t think it possible, but Yevon was even more twisted than I imagined.

Yuna finally stirred, and we gathered around her. She blinked hard, then shook her head.

“I wanted to confront Maester Seymour about his father, Lord Jyscal,” she sighed. “I wanted to convince him to turn himself into Yevon’s judgement.”

“In exchange for marriage?” Lulu asked.

“Yes, if that’s what it took.”

“So, what did Seymour say?” Tidus asked.

“He didn’t say anything. Now…” Yuna hesitated. “Now I don’t even think it was worth it. I should’ve told you what I was going to do.”

“Enough,” I cut in. “Dwelling in the past is futile.”

“Hey! You don’t have to say it like that!” Rikku protested.

I turned to her. “You want to waste time listening to her regrets?”

Rikku’s shoulders drooped. “You don’t have to say it like that…”

I half-rolled my eyes and returned to the rest of the group. “Our immediate concern is Yuna’s pilgrimage. Are you willing to go on?”

“Yes,” she said, though she seemed to reconsider. “But then, do you think Yevon will allow it?”

“The fayth are the ones that give power to the summoners. Not the temples or the teachings. If the temples try to stop us…” I looked her in the eyes. “Then we will defy Yevon if we must.”

“Whoa!”

“I can’t believe you said that!”

Lulu stepped forward, as shocked by my statement as Tidus and Rikku had been. “Sir Auron!?”

“Count me out,” Wakka said. “We have to atone, to make up for the sins we have committed. Of course… it’s not like I ever liked Maester Seymour, ya? No way I’ll ever forgive him for killing Lord Jyscal… and for trying to do us all in too, you know? But still, the bunch of us going against Yevon? No way!”

Lulu shook her head. “But still, we have transgressed and must face our punishment.”

“We must go to Bevelle. We must speak with Maester Mika and explain what has happened. There is no other way, I think,” Yuna said. Her voice wavered slightly.

Wakka voiced his support, and Lulu nodded in agreement.

“Sir Auron…” Yuna began quietly.

Even after Seymour had tried to kill us all, they wanted to believe in Yevon. I didn’t fault them for it: it had taken years for me to see Yevon’s true face, though it never _actively_ tried to kill me. “So it is decided.”

Yuna looked up at me. “Will you come with us?”

I chuckled. “I am the troublemaker, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Tidus piped up. “You can always count on Auron to complicate things!”

To his credit, the boy wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah!” Rikku agreed. “Kimahri roars, and Auron runs off, and…”

“I never asked you to follow me,” I said.

“Hey, but that’s what friends are for. Right?” Tidus looked over at Rikku.

“Yep,” she said.

Yuna looked over at Tidus and smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

Rikku giggled. “Friends, huh? First time a non-Al Bhed called me that.”

Tidus laughed, though Wakka was still tense. “Man… how can you all act like nothing’s wrong? Must got nerves of steel or something.”

“You’re too edgy,” Lulu said. “Listen to the hymn and calm down.”

From beside me, Tidus looked up at the bottom of the temple, a glimmer of recognition in his eyes.

“Jecht used to sing this song…” I reminisced.

“Yeah, over and over,” he laughed. “But not this good, that’s for sure.”

I looked over at him, holding back a grin. “Another trait you share.”

He looked surprised. “Huh? What, were you listening?” I nodded. “Yeesh… can’t I get a little privacy?”

“Your singing reminded me of Spira.”

“Oh, right. You’re not originally from Zanarkand, are you?” he asked gently. “You homesick?”

I looked down at the ground. “Maybe.”

Tidus thought for a moment. “Say, how’d you get to Zanarkand, anyway? Sin?”

I said nothing. It was good that he was finally making the connections for himself. He was… getting stronger.

“Uh-huh,” he nodded. “I thought so.”

“We should get moving soon,” I said after a while, looking back up at the temple. Something had changed—it was quiet.

Quiet was almost never good.

Lulu tapped Rikku’s arm. “Hmm?”

“The singing stopped,” Lulu observed.

A distant rumble began to grow closer, and everything began to shake.

“There’s something here!” Wakka shouted.

“The ground!” I called as it began to split underfoot. Not far from us, drifting calmly, Sin idled in the lake, listening to the fayth sing the hymn.

“Sin!?” Yuna cried.

“The toxin! Watch out!” Lulu’s fading voice was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

I woke to find myself covered in sand, the sun beating down on my back. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been there, or even where I was.

 _So, what trouble have you gotten us into now, Jecht?_ I wondered, picking myself up and brushing myself off. I glanced around: aside from some machina ruins and makeshift lean-to shelters, I couldn’t see anything but sand for miles.

“Great,” I sighed.

 _“Oui mucd?”_ I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned around, hand on the hilt of my sword.

“Who are you?”

“Whoa, whoa, no need for violence!” The owner of the voice said. He was a young man with spiky blond hair, sporting a patch over his right eye and clad mostly in purple. He seemed… somehow familiar, though I couldn’t place him. “Name’s Gippal. I was just asking if you were lost.”

I relaxed my grip on my sword as another man ran up behind him. “You could say that.”

“You’re… you’re Auron, aren’t you? Guardian of High Summoner Braska, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Wow, it’s so awesome to meet you! I had a… an old friend who was a big fan of yours.”

I chuckled. “I get that a lot. But there’s nothing to be a fan of.” I looked between Gippal and his traveling companion. “Where are we?”

“An island in the middle of nowhere. You alone out here?”

Yuna and Tidus flashed through my mind. “I hope not.” I noticed Gippal eyeing the prayer beads at my waist. “Is something wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, no, nothing, just… that pattern looks familiar. ‘Nother old friend. She had a ring that looked like that.”

My heart almost stopped. The bracelet Mara had made for Paine so long ago would certainly not have fit her at the age she would be now, but she could have repurposed it. It was the only other piece of jewelry I knew of that looked even remotely similar to Anya’s necklace.

I would know: I had been searching Spira hoping it would lead to her.

“Gippal… your friend’s name… might I ask what it was?”

“Oh. Her name was Paine. Wicked sword arm. Haven’t seen her in a while, though.”

In a flash, I realized where I had seen this young man before: Operation Mi’ihen, running away from the Mushroom Rock Road, just before I thought I’d glimpsed my daughter. _Paine. She_ was _there. She’s_ alive _._

_I guess she got something from me besides my cheekbones after all._

“She was… okay the last time you saw her?”

He shot me a sideways look over defensively crossed arms. “Why do you want to know?”

“She—” I stopped myself. It was probably not wise to reveal too much to someone I barely knew, no matter how desperate for information I was. “I haven’t seen her for a while, either. I was… curious.”

 _“Rinno ib!”_ Gippal’s companion urged. He seemed to be rushing him along.

“Fine, fine,” Gippal waved him off. “Sir Auron, I thought there was something you should know.”

“Yes?”

“Just got a transmission. Apparently the Guado are conducting a manhunt nearby. Orders are to locate the summoner Yuna and kill her guardians.”

_Not surprising. Maybe a problem, but not surprising._

Gippal walked up to me. “Maybe you oughta lay low for a bit?”

I smirked. “That advice?”

“No. I just don’t want you stirrin’ them up. The temples are after me, too.”

Poor kid. Yevon was ruthless when it wanted to be. “Then I apologize in advance,” I said. I began to walk away, to find the others, hoping they’d be somewhere on this island, when Gippal’s voice again stopped me.

“You’re _fighting?_ ”

I scoffed. _Is submission to their corruption preferable to death? What other choice did we have?_

“I see,” he said. “I’m tired of running from Yevon, myself. And I _have_ thought about fighting…” He sighed. “I’d probably look like a jackass if I even suggested it.”

Notable times I’d looked like a jackass for my suggestions—namely the one that lead to the birth of my daughter—passed through my mind, and a grin came over my face. “Only a jackass can change the world.”

I continued on my way. Paine was alive, somewhere out there. I hadn’t quite found her, but I had seen her, once. Although it could never be enough, I had at least partially accomplished one of the things I had come back to do: I needed to finish the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I always found it amusing that Auron always barks at everyone for dwelling in the past, when--even in canon--he seems to do that an awful lot...  
> \---  
> Al Bhed translations:
> 
> "Oui mucd?" == "You lost?"
> 
> "Runno ib!" == "Hurry up!"


	8. Believe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for Al Bhed translations.

I had seen Mara’s Home, though it had certainly seen better days. I met the Al Bhed leader, Yuna’s uncle and Rikku’s father, Cid. And now I was flying in an airship, apparently dragged up from beneath the ocean.

_Wish you could be here for this, Anya,_ I thought. _You… you would have loved this._

I made my way to the bridge. Rikku glanced over her shoulder, then gestured for me to join her. I obliged.

“Remember when I said you reminded me of someone?” she said.

I nodded.

“Well…” she pointed a thumb at Cid, who was too absorbed in his sphere oscillo-finder to notice.

I scoffed, though it made a certain kind of sense.

“ _Vydran! Fa vuiht_ Yuna!” the man piloting the airship—Rikku’s brother—called from his seat.

“ _Frana?_ ” Cid yelled back.

“ _E femm cruf oui!_ ” He flipped a few switches, and a projection appeared on a screen. Yuna was dressed in white, her hair done up, though the look on her face was pleading. Seymour was clothed in elaborate robes, his expression victorious, determined. I was no stranger to the scenario… though my wedding had been significantly happier.

“Where was that!?” Tidus questioned.

“The Palace of St. Bevelle. Heart of Yevon,” Lulu said.

Tidus’ eyes were on fire. “Gramps, let’s move!”

“Easy, kiddo,” Cid said. “Bevelle’s defenses are top-notch.”

“What’s the matter, gramps? You scared? Yuna’s there, so we go and get her!” He looked over his shoulder at Cid, flashing him a smile. “And that’s all!”

“Heh! You got guts. _Cad luinca du_ Bevelle! _Vimm cbaat yrayt!_ ”

“ _Nukan!_ ” From the pilot’s seat, Rikku’s brother raised a hand, then accelerated the airship. I caught myself on a nearby chair, but Tidus was knocked backward.

“It’ll take a while to get to Bevelle,” Cid said. “Meanwhile…”

“We prepare for battle!” Tidus continued triumphantly.

Rikku turned to me. “What’s Seymour doing alive? Didn’t we… _take care_ of him in Macalania?”

“He is dead. As dead as Jyscal was. His attachment to this world kept him from the next.”

“Whoa, scary!”

I considered the scene. “Yuna must be trying to send him.”

“Wonder if that will work,” Rikku said, looking out one of the windows.

“Perhaps he won’t expect it.” I followed her gaze. “Bevelle… it’s been ten years.” _Another lifetime ago…_

“I’m glad Yuna’s okay and all,” Wakka said, “but what’s with those fancy clothes?”

Lulu looked at him, half amused at Wakka’s ignorance. “It’s called a wedding dress.”

“What!?”

“Hah! Wedding, my britches!” Cid laughed. “Not while I’m around! Those Yevon rockheads! I’ll give ‘em something to remember!”

I snickered as I made my way through the airship. Cid was certainly a character, though I wondered exactly where Rikku saw similarities between the two of us.

Did she look at me and see a father?

I leaned against one of the windows in the airship’s upper cabin, gazing out as we passed through the clouds. If she did, then I had three kids to protect—and those were just the ones I was traveling with.

I inhaled deeply. Paine was still out there, somewhere. I thought about her all the time. I wished I could find her. I wondered what she was doing now…

Tidus, Rikku, and Lulu soon joined me in the cabin. A slender dragon with delicate wings and ornate horns glided past the airship, dipping gracefully down through the clouds. Were we not about to storm Bevelle, I might have felt something like awe.

“Huh, now there’s a rare sight,” I mused, watching the dragon.

Tidus’ eyes grew wide. “Whoa, that’s huge!”

“What is that?” Rikku asked.

“The guardian wyrm, Evrae,” Lulu explained. “The great sacred beast—protector of Bevelle!”

“The red carpet has teeth,” I grumbled.

“Wait, that means we’re close to Bevelle!” Tidus realized, looking around.

Overhead, the airship’s intercom crackled to life. “Rikku, you read me?” Cid’s voice echoed through the cabin. “We’re gonna fight that thing! Get on deck and show him what you got! Go!”

“There he goes again…” Rikku said.

“The ferryman asks a high price,” I sighed.

We took the lift up to the top deck of the airship, our battle to take place on its nose. Evrae approached us, ready to defend her territory. Cid lifted the covers over the airship’s guns and offered as much help as he could give us, and with Tidus and Rikku shouting orders to him, we managed to deal as much damage to Evrae as it was doing to us. Tidus was leaning on his sword for support, Lulu couldn’t stand up straight, and I had to brace myself on my knee, but we were close to the end of the battle—I could feel it.

_Braska, lend me your strength,_ I thought as I readied my attack. _For Yuna!_ I ran at Evrae, looming over the side of the ship. Instead of an overhead strike, I brought my blade around from the side, channeling all my energy into my swing. It connected, slicing through Evrae like a knife through melted butter. I retreated quickly and looked back at the beast.

With what could only be described as a pained expression, it sank away from the airship, its body breaking into pyreflies. I sighed heavily, knowing that the battle was far from over, and that those below in Bevelle would certainly know something had happened when the pieces of their revered protector began raining down from the sky.

The airship began its rather rapid descent toward Bevelle, leaving a thick trail of black smoke in its wake. Rikku looked troubled, and my guess was that something had gone amiss, and we might be headed for a crash. She shouted something to Cid in Al Bhed, and suddenly, cables shot out of the airship, down toward the tower of Bevelle Temple. Tidus glanced between the cables and the ground, quickly figuring out what he was meant to do. Once the cables pulled taut, he jumped onto one of them, sliding down toward the paths leading to the top of the tower.

“Come on!” Rikku called, and the rest of us followed Tidus’ example, jumping over the cables where they crossed, and finally making it to solid ground… where we were greeted by dozens of warrior monks, ready to defend the maesters. Most of them were barely old enough to hold some of the lower ranks. Perhaps if my life had gone differently, I might have been their commanding officer, filling their heads with combat advice and Yevon’s deceptions.

What a life that would have been.

We fought through several waves of them before reaching the base of the steps leading to the platform where Seymour stood, holding Yuna close to him in a gesture I was _sure_ wasn’t affection.

“This has gone far enough!” Like so many times before, my thoughts were interrupted by Wen Kinoc’s voice, as he aimed a gun at Tidus. The younger looked as though he was going to try to run ahead anyway, but I knew Kinoc wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him, and at this point-blank range, it would surely be lethal. There were several reasons I couldn’t let that happen.

“Stop,” I cautioned Tidus, extending my arm to keep him from moving. I could feel him tense with indecision, with frustration at my sudden defensiveness, but I wouldn’t let him die, especially not at Kinoc’s hands.

Hearing more rifles, I chanced a look around: we were completely surrounded. This was getting complicated.

From in front of Seymour, Yuna produced her summoning rod and held it up to him, her eyes defiant, her expression determined.

“You would play at marriage just for a chance to send me?” Seymour said. His smile was more amused than worried. “Your resolve is admirable. All the more fitting to be my lovely wife.”

Yuna turned her staff, and pyreflies began to encircle Seymour. He gazed at them as though they were the most fascinating beings he’d ever seen, though his smirk never left his face.

“Stop!” Grand Maester Mika cried from Seymour’s side. “Do you not value your friends’ lives?”

Yuna’s expression faltered as she pulled her staff close to her, looking over at us.

“Your actions determine their fate. Protect them… or throw them away. The choice is yours.”

Yuna gripped her staff tightly for a moment, her eyes squeezed shut as she lowered her head. Slowly, she put her arms down and her grip on her staff slackened. She let it fall from her gloved hand and it bounced down the stairs, landing at Tidus’ feet.

“You are wise,” Seymour said smugly.

Yuna bit her lip as he stepped closer to her, grabbing her shoulders firmly. Rikku gasped, looking to Lulu, pleading for her to do something, _anything_. As Seymour caressed Yuna’s face, Wakka grunted his disapproval.

That was the first time that I wondered if their guns could truly do me any meaningful harm: I was already dead, I doubted they could kill me again.

Seymour leaned in, and Tidus stepped forward, a growl escaping his throat. Seymour’s lips connected with Yuna’s, and Bevelle’s wedding bells rang.

Yuna balled her hand into a fist, and the look on Tidus’ face transformed itself from hopelessness to fury. That confirmed it: I was no expert at reading signs of emotions, but although the rest of us were upset, although we wanted to get rid of Seymour and save Yuna from the wedding she had been forced into, Tidus looked like he personally wanted to tear the man to pieces. Not that I blamed him.

As Seymour pulled away from Yuna, he once again held her close to him, to keep her from moving or protesting. “Kill them,” he ordered nonchalantly. Once more, the guns of a dozen Yevon soldiers were trained on us.

“I am sorry, but it is for Yevon,” Kinoc said.

“Aren’t those weapons forbidden by Yevon?” I growled. There had been a reason I’d trained with a sword instead of a gun.

Kinoc knocked Tidus aside with the barrel of his rifle and switched his aim to me. “There are exceptions.” His hands were shaking. He could betray me, he could lust for power, but I wondered if he could really pull the trigger. I dared him to try.

“No!”

All of us turned to look at Yuna, who had moved higher on the platform, steps away from its edge.

“Throw down your weapons!” she commanded. “Let them go, or else…” she began walking backward toward the edge of the platform, slowly, stopping just short of toppling over. The fire in her eyes had returned.

Seymour reluctantly motioned for everyone to lower their weapons, and we rushed toward her.

“Leave now! Please!” Yuna pleaded.

“You’re coming with us!” Tidus said.

“Don’t worry! Go!”

“This is foolish. If you fall, you’ll die,” Seymour chimed in.

Yuna glared at him, wiping her mouth with the back of her arm. She looked back at Tidus. “Don’t worry. I can fly.”

Tidus shook his head in disbelief.

“Believe.”

Tidus slowly shifted from shaking his head to nodding it, and Yuna grinned. Their eyes met briefly before she folded her hands and allowed herself to fall backward off the balustrade.

“Yuna!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al Bhed translations:
> 
> “Vydran! Fa vuiht Yuna!” == "Father! We found Yuna!"
> 
> "Frana?" == "Where?"
> 
> “E femm cruf oui!” == "I will show you!"
> 
> "Cad luinca du Bevelle! Vimm cbaat yrayt!" == "Set course to Bevelle! Full speed ahead!"
> 
> "Nukan!" == "Roger!"


	9. The Past and the Future

After making our escape—and navigating the temple via a machina, much to Wakka’s dismay—we made it to the Chamber of the Fayth.

_My last time here was so much better,_ I thought. Braska had already received the aeon from Bevelle’s temple, so we’d never needed to solve the trials together: my last time in this room had been with Anya. _I’m sorry we couldn’t get to Yuna in time, Braska._

“Yuna?” Tidus called.

“Inside, maybe?” Wakka said, gesturing to the door to the fayth’s room.

“Then what’re we standing here for?” Tidus ran ahead to the heavy door and struggled to lift it, grunting with effort.

“H-hey!” Wakka said.

“You can stuff your taboos!” Tidus strained. Kimahri walked over to him, and the two shared a look of mutual respect as together, they lifted the door enough for Tidus to slip beneath it. I glanced over at Lulu, who nodded, and followed him inside the room.

Tidus was staring in awe at Bahamut, the fayth for the aeon.

“Wh-what’s that?” he asked no one in particular.

“A fayth. They join with the summoner, and together receive the aeon,” I said quietly, recalling the first time Anya had explained it to me. “They are human souls, imprisoned in stone by ancient Yevon rites.” I looked up at the fayth floating above its statue, and I wondered if it remembered me. For a moment, I met its gaze, and it seemed to see past my eyes. It looked… tired.

“The dead should be allowed to rest,” I sighed. The fayth seemed to nod at me before it joined with Yuna as she received its aeon, collapsing to the ground afterward.

“Yuna!” Tidus said, picking her up. I smiled to myself: aside from a minor difference in appearance, that could have been Anya and me, all those years ago. I was glad that Tidus cared so much for Yuna; it occurred to me that Jecht and Braska, after a fit of laughter, would probably have been happy, as well.

I left the chamber ahead of them only to be greeted by Kinoc and a small army of warrior monks. I rolled my eye. _Not this again…_

“Wait!” Rikku called back to Tidus. “Don’t come out!”

Sadly, he was already emerging from the chamber. I sighed.

“That’s the last of them,” Kinoc confirmed. “You are to stand trial.”

I snorted. “I expect it will be a fair trial?”

Kinoc laughed, his voice dripping with malice. “Of course it will.”

 

* * *

 

After Yuna’s trial, Tidus and I had been locked in a cage, suspended high over a deep pool of water. Other cages hung around us, some housing rotting bones. Although the bars were just wide enough to squeeze through, there was no point: the bridge out was too far to jump to, and it was guarded. There was no exit.

Tidus rattled the bars. “Get me outta here! I want out now! You hear me?”

“You waste your breath.”

Tidus let out an exasperated growl and sat down. “Man, I hope Yuna’s okay.”

“Hm. She’s strong. She’ll make it.”

“‘She’ll make it’? What, so she can die?” Tidus scowled. “Why is it… everything in Spira seems to revolve around people dying?”

“Ahh, the spiral of death.”

“Huh?”

“Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so. Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner. The fayth are the souls of the dead. Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent,” I explained. “Spira is full of death. Only Sin is reborn, and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly.”

Tidus sighed. We sat in silence for a while, and I wondered what had become of Yuna, Rikku, and the others… where they had been taken, what was to be done with us. It wasn’t likely that Yuna would receive death, but the rest of us…

I wasn’t so sure.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when Kinoc strode out on the bridge that bisected the room.

“Come out. Your sentence has been decided.”

“‘Sentence’?” I hissed. “Don’t you mean ‘execution’?”

“Really, now, what person would execute a dear friend?”

I glared at him with my one good eye. “You would.”

In that moment, we weren’t maester and high guardian. It was ten years ago, when he had handed over Anya’s sphere for the promotion, and we were equally-ranked. I saw fear flash through Kinoc’s eyes as the realization washed over him: I knew his secret. Although his power and position protected him, I knew he wondered how far it would really go.

He was scared.

 

* * *

 

We had escaped the Via Purifico, even though they had split us up in a futile attempt to weaken us. We all reunited on the Bevelle highbridge.

“Yunie!” Rikku exclaimed, throwing her arms around Yuna. “You’re all right? We were so worried! It’s good to have you back!”

“Thank you,” Yuna said quietly.

When Rikku finally released her grip on Yuna, Tidus approached her sheepishly.

“Um… I… uh…” he stammered.

He was interrupted by Seymour, accompanied by an entourage of three Guado guards and one warrior monk. One of them was carrying Kinoc’s limp body down the bridge.

“Kinoc!” I gasped. There had certainly been times in the recent past I’d wanted him dead, but to actually see it…

Tidus’ eyes narrowed. “Why, you!”

“I have saved him,” Seymour said, grinning. “He was a man who craved power. And great power he had, but he feared losing it.”

He continued on some harebrained explanation of his reasoning for killing Kinoc, but a high-pitched, tense ringing in my ears drowned most of it out. Kinoc had changed, and he and I weren’t friends any longer, but he had been one of my only links to my past, before I became a guardian. Almost everyone else was dead. And now…

“Come, Lady Yuna,” Seymour continued. “Come with me to Zanarkand, the lost city of the dead. With death on our side, we will save Spira, and for this… I will take from you your strength, Yuna, your life, and become the next Sin. I will destroy Spira! I will save it!”

“You’re totally nuts!” Tidus shouted.

With a battle cry, Kimahri thrust his spear into Seymour’s chest, right where his heart would have been.

_If he_ had _a heart…_

“Unpleasant,” Seymour said, as though he were looking at a smushed bug. “Very well. I will give you your death. You seem to want it so.”

Seymour killed his attendants and absorbed them—and Kinoc—turning himself into some manner of hybrid monstrosity.

“Run!” Kimahri yelled. “Protect Yuna!”

“Go!” I said, ushering everyone on.

“No way! I’m fighting!” Tidus said, moving to draw his blade.

Fortunately, I was faster. I held my katana under his nose. “I said _go!_ ”

We began to flee toward the other end of the highbridge. When we were almost out of Bevelle, Yuna stopped, her feet planted stubbornly in place.

“I won’t leave Kimahri behind!” she said.

I turned around. “He is a guardian. Protecting you is everything.”

“Auron!” she protested.

Tidus’ eyes lit up. “That’s right! We’re all guardians! Yeah, and you know what that means? Yuna…” he met her eyes. “Anywhere you go, I’ll follow!”

“Anywhere I go?” she said breathlessly.

“Yeah, anywhere!”

“Well then…” she nodded at him. “Let’s go!” they chorused, running back toward the other side of the bridge.

“Hey, Kimahri! Leave some for us!” Tidus called.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Wakka yelled, taking off after them. I wondered when he’d become so determined to fight a maester… even an undead one.

“Me, too!” Rikku chimed in.

Lulu grinned mischievously at me. “I’ll go, too!”

_Young summoners and their impulsivity._ I chuckled and turned around to follow them back to battle.

 

* * *

 

We’d defeated Seymour once more, and escaped Bevelle without excessive collateral damage. I spoke to some of the younger city guards, and they agreed to let us go as long as we didn’t try to re-enter Bevelle. I wondered if the arrangement had only been made because he didn’t think they’d be able to take us in a fight… or maybe because the other maesters were afraid of bad publicity. Regardless, I thanked him and returned to our campsite in the Macalania Woods.

“Well?” Wakka asked.

“We’re all clear,” I informed him. “We will have to avoid Bevelle in the future.” I looked around, noting the absence of our summoner. “Yuna?”

“She said she wanted to be alone,” Rikku said.

“Of course,” I nodded. She’d had a long day, and on top of that… perhaps this had been enough for her to finally see Yevon’s corruption. It wasn’t going to be easy for her to handle.

Tidus stared off in the direction of the clearing I knew so well. It was where Yuna was. Lulu had informed me that Kimahri was with her, but I knew how I had longed for Anya when I was at my lowest, how no one else—not even Braska, one of my very best friends—could have provided me the same comfort she could have.

“Maybe you should go talk to her?” I suggested. Tidus glanced at me, and nodded. I was sure he’d been thinking the same thing, but perhaps he needed a push.

Maybe we all needed a push right now.

I sat down in one corner of our campsite and pulled Anya’s sphere from my cloak. I hadn’t really intended to watch it, just to hold it in my hands. It seemed appropriate, given where we were.

“What’s that?” Rikku asked, suddenly beside me.

“My wife left this for me,” I said. “In case she defeated Sin.”

“Can I watch it with you?”

“I wasn’t really planning to—” I looked over at Rikku. Her eyes were tired, but earnest. “If you really want to.”

As I was turning the sphere on, Lulu and Wakka walked over to see what we were doing. I told them about the sphere, about Anya, and about when Paine was swept away by Sin’s attack.

“We thought she died,” I told them. “It was why we decided to resume our pilgrimage, but Anya got sick on Mount Gagazet, and we didn’t make it. For them, I was Braska’s guardian. For them…” I paused. “Let’s just say that there are many reasons I want to defeat Sin.”

Lulu put a hand on my shoulder as I played the sphere.

“You got married in Bevelle?” Lulu asked.

“In secret,” I chuckled. “Braska and Mara set it up for us. It was… perfect.”

“Just about the opposite of Seymour’s wedding then, eh?” Wakka joked. Lulu glared at him, and he recoiled.

“Your wife is really pretty,” Rikku said. The scene changed to us holding Paine. “Wow, Auron—she’s got your cheekbones!”

I laughed. “I hear that a lot.”

“Hold on,” Lulu said. “Pause it?”

I paused the sphere, and Lulu examined the image closely.

“Lu, her eyes look kinda like yours,” Wakka observed.

“Gold star for this one,” Rikku said sarcastically.

“I was looking at that,” Lulu said. “I wonder…”

I looked up at Lulu. “Yes?”

“I don’t remember much about my parents,” Lulu said. “But I do remember my mother mentioning that her sister had a child. A daughter. I don’t remember her name, though. Their village was destroyed by Sin. My mother always assumed they all died, but perhaps my cousin survived.”

“Whoa, so you and Auron are like family, ya?” Wakka asked.

“Ah… in a way, I suppose. _If_ Anya was my aunt’s daughter.” Lulu smiled. “I admit, it would be nice to have family that’s still alive.”

I held back a laugh: somehow, I doubted I fit that description. “I agree.” I turned off the sphere and tucked it away.

“Thank you for sharing, Auron,” Lulu said.

“And sorry to bust in on your moment,” Rikku added.

I hadn’t realized how good it would feel to talk about them. There was something to keeping my family all to myself, but looking back on the good times with people I could call my friends was freeing, somehow.

Not long after, Tidus, Yuna, and Kimahri returned to the campsite.

“Um… Sir Auron?” Yuna began. “Wakka? Lulu? Kimahri? Rikku? Everyone, we leave at dawn. And… I’m sorry for putting you all through this.” She bowed deeply. “And… um…”

“Enough,” I said gently. “You need your rest.”

“Yes. Good night.” Yuna bowed again, and we all settled in for the night. Despite the events of the day, I slept better than I had in weeks.


	10. A Summoner and Her Guardians

Our crossing of the Calm Lands was fairly uneventful, save for a run-in with two of Seymour’s lackeys and a fairly large mech. We approached Mt. Gagazet, and I wondered what the Ronso—a devoted race, all things considered—would make of our arrival.

One of Kimahri’s clansmen, Biran, leapt in front of us, blocking our advance. His snarl said more than words possibly could: we were not welcome here.

“Summoner Yuna and guardians, leave here at once!” Kelk Ronso, formerly Maester Kelk Ronso, boomed powerfully as he approached. “Gagazet is Ronso land, sacred mountain of Yevon. The mountain will not bear the footsteps of infidels!”

“Enemy of Yevon is enemy of Ronso!” Biran roared. “Leave, traitors!”

Yuna stood her ground. “I have cast aside Yevon! I… I follow the temple no more!”

Kelk’s eyes narrowed. “Then you will die by those words!”

“So be it. Yevon has warped the teachings and betrayed us all!”

“Nothing but a bunch of low-down tricksters, eh?” Wakka chimed in. I was still surprised, even after the two times he’d more or less voluntarily battled Seymour: this outright denouncement of Yevon was certainly a new leaf for him.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Tidus cheered, Rikku echoing the sentiment.

“We have no regrets,” Yuna said firmly.

“Blasphemers!” cried Yenke, Biran’s bosom-buddy.

“A summoner and her guardians…” I’d never been adept at reading Ronso facial expressions, but I’d daresay that Kelk looked contemplative, almost as though he understood where Yuna was coming from. I hoped he did.

Lulu stepped forward. “Lord Kelk Ronso, if I may,” she began respectfully. “Have you not also turned your back on Bevelle?”

I followed her lead. “But still, you guard Gagazet as a Ronso, not a maester. Yuna is much the same.”

“Elder Kelk! Let Biran rend them asunder!” the hulking Ronso shouted.

“No escape! Not one!” Yenke added, his tone mocking.

“No, we will not flee,” Yuna declared. “We will fight, and continue on.”

“You have been branded a traitor, but still you would fight Sin?” Kelk questioned. “Lost to the temple, hated by the people, yet you continue your pilgrimage? Everything lost! What do you fight for?”

To call Yuna “hated” by the people of Spira was a stretch, but he was right at least on the count of being unwelcome at the temples. Yuna probably couldn’t even have walked back into Besaid—her own home—without being attacked by Yevon cronies. Kelk’s interrogation angered me in a way I hadn’t quite experienced before: the dejected look that crept across Yuna’s face at the question, after all her hard work, after everything she had been through, made me wish I could shush him like an unruly child. Yuna had been beaten down enough.

After a brief pause, she looked up, and answered softly: “I fight for Spira. The people long for the Calm. I can give it to them. It’s all I can give. Defeating Sin, ending pain… this I can do.”

“Even sacrificing yourself?” There was that look again. Kelk turned to the Ronso that covered the mountain. “Ronso, let them pass!” He returned to Yuna. “Summoner Yuna, your will is stronger than steel. Tempered steel that even the mightiest Ronso could not hope to bend. Yuna, we bow to your will! Now go! The sacred heights of Gagazet welcome you.”

Yuna bowed to him. “We thank you.”

As the Ronso dispersed, I cast my gaze over the snowy mountaintops. Somewhere up there was the site I’d built so many years ago. I was both drawn to it and dreading it.

Tidus looked over at me, his expression curious.

“Ten years ago, I looked up at Gagazet from where we stand now,” I said.

“My old man say anything?”

I wasn’t surprised by the question. I was surprised that I didn’t remember whether or not Jecht had said anything of note. I was sure that he had: he had been so close to the end of his life then, but I… my mind had been elsewhere.

“I do not remember,” I admitted. “All I could think of was how…” I swallowed. I remembered thinking that I had failed Anya, and that I could not fail again. “… how I might keep Braska alive.”

_I won’t fail your daughter, Braska. She will make it to Zanarkand._

 

* * *

 

We reached the last gravesite on the mountain path. The snow was brutal, just as it had been the day I’d constructed it.

“All this way, only to fail,” Lulu said as she observed the site. “It must have been tough.”

 _You have_ no _idea,_ I thought.

As the group pressed forward, I lingered at the grave marker. I pressed my fingers to my lips, then to the cold stone.

“Help me figure this out,” I whispered. “We can’t let her die. We have to stop this.”

I sighed deeply and reluctantly slid my hand from the monument. _I’ll be with you soon._

 

* * *

 

We were walking along a rocky path a little farther up the mountain. I noticed that Rikku and Tidus had hung back, but I figured they had their reasons, just as I had when I stopped at Anya’s grave. Still, we were walking a little slower, to give them time to catch up when they were done with whatever it was they had to do.

“Stop,” I said, hearing heavy footfalls in the snow behind us. I turned around to find Rikku approaching at a reckless run. She skidded to a stop in front of me, out of breath, bracing herself on her knees.

“L-ledge… talk-talking…” she panted. “G… gotta fight!”

“Breathe,” I said. “Fight who?”

She looked up at me, an intense blend of anger and fear in her eyes. “Seymour!”

_Him again?_

“Let’s go!” I said, leading everyone back toward the ledge. Annoying as he was, he was more than a match for Tidus in a one-on-one confrontation.

“Save some for Kimahri!” the Ronso roared as we approached Tidus and Seymour.

Seymour ignored him, instead turning his attention to Yuna. “Lady Yuna, it is a pleasure.”

“Yuna!” Lulu said with a wave of her hand. Yuna nodded, and once again attempted to send Seymour.

“A _sending?_ So soon?” he said. His voice was almost mocking. “Allow me to say something to the last Ronso before I leave.” He laughed haughtily through his nose. “Yours was… truly a gallant race. They threw themselves at me to bar my path. One… after another…” He snickered again, the noise grating.

“No…” Kimahri growled.

“Kimahri…” Yuna began.

“You could end the suffering of this poor Ronso,” Seymour continued.

“I don’t understand you!” Yuna exclaimed.

“Allow Kimahri to die, and release him from his pain,” Seymour explained. I guessed Yuna hadn’t been seeking an explanation. “Spira… is a land of suffering and sorrow caught in a spiral of death. To destroy—to heal—Spira, I will become Sin. Yes, with your help. Come with me, Yuna.”

Tidus stepped in front of Yuna, glaring at Seymour, challenging him.

“Once I have become the next Sin, your father will be freed again.” Truly, I did not know whether or not this was true, though I doubted Jecht would be “free” in any sense of the word.

Tidus looked down for a moment, then balled his hand into fists, his resolve renewed. “What do you know?!”

“Pitiful mortal. Your hope ends here.” Pyreflies clustered around Seymour, transforming him once more, this time into a contraption that looked something like an oversized bumblebee. “And your meaningless existence with it!”

 

* * *

 

The sun was setting as we neared the summit of Mt. Gagazet. The dragon we had faced was similar to the one I had fought with Jecht and Braska, and looking out over the ruins of Zanarkand… I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me.

“Hey! Can’t we rest a little?” Rikku asked.

“No need. We reach the summit soon,” I said.

“I know, that’s why I want to stop for a bit. Soon means that… there’s not much time left.”

“Rikku…” Yuna began, likely with the intention of offering some comfort at her cousin’s protest.

“Fine,” she replied, clearly frustrated. “I’ll think on the way.”

Tidus was slow to follow. He sighed heavily.

“Hey, come on, let’s go,” Wakka said gently.

 “We are almost there, aren’t we?”

“We’ve come a long way.”

I chuckled softly.

Tidus turned to me, a kind of defeated anger in his eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“You remind me of myself,” I said. “Before, the closer I came to Zanarkand, the more I wondered… when we arrive, Braska will call the Final Aeon…” Flashes of the things I’d felt that day, of the battle cries of Braska’s Final Aeon, passed through my mind. “He will fight Sin, then die. I thought my mind was made up long before. But when I stood here, my resolve wavered.”

“Huh, never would’ve figured,” Wakka said. “Legendary guardians choke sometimes, too, ya?”

I scoffed. “Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too.” I sighed. Braska died, just as Anya had died. Sin had come back… as Jecht. I couldn’t protect Paine, and as hard as I tried, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to protect Yuna and Tidus. “But I changed nothing. That is my story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admission: occasionally my own words sneak into Auron's. Case in point: the giant bumblebee thing. From the first time I battled it, that was what I thought it looked like. That form is probably the most ridiculous of all of Seymour's forms. It's just _really_ hard to take him seriously when he looks like a giant bug, or a woman with one of those butt-bouncy-spring-things.


	11. This is My Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for Al Bhed translations.

_“Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!”_

That was what I had said when we fought Yunalesca. It was a long time coming. There was no turning back now: the Final Summoning was gone. There would be no Final Aeon, no ultimate weapon with which this Yu Yevon could create Sin anew.

Fortunately, Cid had repaired the airship, and picked us up just as we were leaving Zanarkand. I didn’t need to see any more of my old memories there, and neither did the others. We were uncharacteristically quiet as we boarded and gathered on the bridge.

“ _Frana du huf?_ ” Rikku’s brother asked from his pilot’s chair.

“Aren’t we the happy lookin’ bunch,” Cid said, looking us over.

“ _Frana? Frana?_ ” the young Al Bhed asked more urgently.

“‘Where, where?’ That all you can say?” Rikku mocked angrily. “Why don’t you think of _something!?_ ”

“Well? Any good ideas?” I asked. Maybe I was just as desperate for answers as she was.

“Come on, help us!” Tidus implored. As if I could be of any help.

“What do we know…” I said, my mind racing. “Sin is Jecht. Thus, you have a link… a bond with Sin. That may be our key.”

“So what do we do?”

“We think, and we wait.” Tidus sighed and muttered something as I wandered over to the hallway approaching the bridge.

 

* * *

 

Well… we had thought of _something._ We had gotten all of Spira to sing the Hymn of the Fayth. Even I joined in. It was an indescribable experience. I felt connected to everyone in the world; for a moment, I felt connected with Paine. She was out there, alive. She was going to be okay.

Now, we were doing battle with Sin itself. We had taken off its arms, sending it crashing down into the outskirts of Bevelle. Now, however, translucent wings sprung from its back, and it perched itself on top of the Tower of Bevelle. It was… almost calm.

“Jecht… he’s waiting for you,” I said as Tidus and Yuna walked back onto the bridge.

“Well, son, the main gun is still busted! We can’t give you any cover fire!” Cid said to Tidus. I wasn’t quite sure when Tidus had become the leader of this operation, but that he had had proven how far he’d come—how much he’d grown—since the day Jecht and I brought him to Spira.

“Hey, just take us in. We’ll do the rest.” Tidus scanned his fellow guardians. I thought I recognized the look, having seen a similar hint of sadness in Braska’s eyes, and Yuna’s: he was saying goodbye.

“All right,” Cid said as he strode up to his son. “Take us up, flush to the mouth! No mistakes, or I’m gonna tear out that mop you call hair!”

“Eh… trust… me,” the young man struggled. “Me… take you there. No problem… ya?”

I almost chuckled. I hoped he wasn’t learning his English from Wakka.

“Let’s get ready to blitz!” Tidus declared.

Yuna stepped forward and caught his eye. “Our fathers’ wishes… let’s make them come true!”

I smiled to myself. A world without Sin, their children safe… I hoped they would come true.

Both Sin and the airship rose above Bevelle, coming nose-to-nose in the sky. We ran out to fight it.

“Here we go!” Cid called over the intercom.

“Yeah! I’m coming for you… Dad!”

 

* * *

 

We had landed _inside of_ Sin. I was sure this had never been done before. Seymour, who thought he could learn to control Sin from within, had been defeated once and for all—sent to the Farplane by Yuna after one more extrenuous battle—and it was almost time to push forward, further into the maze that was the inner workings of Sin’s armor. As we prepared to leave the airship once more, Tidus and I had a moment in private.

“Ten years ago…” I began. “I honored Jecht’s last words, and traveled to Zanarkand. I planned to stay there, watching over you. But when Sin attacked Zanarkand that day, I changed my mind. Outside the dream world, life can be harsh—even cruel. But it is life. He wanted you to have a shot at life. I saw it in Sin’s eyes. That’s why I brought you here, to Spira.” It was a simplified version of the story, maybe, but it was one he deserved to know, before either of us faded away. Tidus nodded in understanding.

“When this is over, I will leave,” I continued. I closed my one good eye. “I have played at life too long.”

 

* * *

 

After wandering through a city that looked almost like a warped version of Zanarkand—Jecht’s Zanarkand—a tower fell from the sky above. We approached it carefully, and touching one of the glowing, inscribed glyphs transported us to an area that looked remarkably similar to Macalania Woods.

A smile tugged at my lips. Perhaps that place had become similarly important to Jecht. An aurora streaked through the sky, as if we were being whirled through space, and icicles shot sporadically upward all over the frozen lake. I looked on in awe: this was like nothing I had ever seen, and my adventures had shown me much.

After a time, we were lifted into the air and transported again, this time to what looked like the ruins of a blitzball stadium. A man stood with his back to us, arms crossed in front of him. I didn’t need a second look to know who it was.

“You’re late, Auron.”

I hadn’t heard that voice, unfiltered by Sin, in ten years. “I know.”

Jecht turned around to face his son. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Tidus responded.

“Hah! You got tall, but you’re all bones! You eating right, boy?” Jecht’s expression softened. “You’ve really grown.”

“Yeah…” Tidus looked down. “But you’re still bigger.”

“Well I am Sin, you know.”

“That’s not funny.”

Jecht chuckled. It wasn’t funny, but Jecht had to learn to live with it somehow.

“Well, then… I mean… you know. Let’s end this.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“I hate you.” The words were spoken quickly. Tidus was probably still afraid to say them, and from the way his voice wavered, I wondered whether he really still meant them.

Jecht laughed. “I know, I know. You know what you have to do.”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t hear the Hymn so well anymore. Pretty soon, I’m gonna be Sin. Completely. I’m glad you’re here now. One thing, though…” Jecht looked pained. “When it starts, I won’t be myself anymore. I won’t be able to hold myself back. I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough. Let’s finish this, okay?” He was trying to hide it, but tears were streaming down Tidus’ cheeks. Jecht and I exchanged a look. He had come a long way, but he was having second thoughts. Neither of us blamed him.

“You’re right,” Jecht said softly. He walked to the edge of the platform, then turned back to face us. “Well, then… let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

Jecht did not make it easy, but when he was defeated, he returned to his human state and collapsed to the ground, the form of Yu Yevon abandoning Braska’s Final Aeon. I looked at Tidus, who was already running to catch his father. Jecht crumpled into his son’s arms, and Tidus gently lowered him to the ground.

“You’ll cry. You’re gonna cry. You always cry. See? You’re crying.”

Unashamed, Tidus wept as his father lay dying in his arms. “I hate you, Dad.” I assumed it was a substitute for a different phrase, one he had never wanted to say until that moment.

“Save it for later,” Jecht said as Tidus straightened.

“Right,” he said softly. “We’ve got a job to do, don’t we?”

“Good. That’s right. You are my son, after all.” Jecht struggled to stand.

“You know… for the first time, I’m glad… to have you as my… father.”

“Heh.”

“Sir Jecht…” Yuna approached them, stopping at Tidus’ side. “I should—”

“No,” Jecht said, finally getting to his feet, though he couldn’t quite stand up straight. “Yuna, there’s no time!”

Yu Yevon, an inky black ball of shadow, swooped close to them, and Tidus waved him off with a shout.

“Yuna, you know what to do,” Jecht said, his every word a battle. “The aeons…”

“We aeons,” echoed Bahamut’s fayth from behind us.

“Call them!” Jecht finished, collapsing in a heap on the ground.

“Call us!”

Jecht’s form broke up into pyreflies. I hoped that after so many years, he was finally at rest: Braska’s Calm had been a long one, relatively speaking, but that also meant that Jecht’s tenure as Sin had been lengthy, as well.

“Yes,” Yuna replied, looking at the empty space where Jecht’s body had been.

Once again, Yu Yevon swooped down before us, encircling us like a predator trapping its prey.

“Here it comes!” Lulu cried. There was a flash of bright light, and I could hear a distorted version of the Hymn as I slowly regained my senses. We were standing atop the sword of Braska’s Final Aeon, Yu Yevon still floating in circles around us.

“Yuna!”

Pain flashed across Yuna’s face as she realized the weight of the task that now stood before her, but she set her jaw, and began summoning.

One by one, we cut down each of her aeons. I recalled some of them fondly. Last was the one I remembered as Valefor, the one that had saved me that very first day in Besaid. Before Yu Yevon sank into her, I hoped she could read my expression: the gratitude for all she had done for us, and the hope that she could rest soon. It was only then that I wondered if they were in pain when Yu Yevon possessed them… or if they could feel it when we defeated them.

“Everyone!” Tidus called when Valefor had disappeared. “This is the last time we fight together, okay?”

The rest of the party turned to look at him.

“Huh?” Wakka asked, clutching his blitzball just a little tighter.

“What I’m trying to say is… after we beat Yu Yevon, I’ll… disappear!”

Lulu shot him a sideways glance. “What are you talking about?”

He met Yuna’s eyes. The latter didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to: after all the friends she had lost to Sin, she was going to lose him, too. I knew she didn’t want to. Everything in her was probably screaming, trying to come up with something, some way to avoid the inevitable.

“I’m saying goodbye!”

“Not now!” Rikku protested.

“I know it’s selfish…” Tidus drew his blade, staring down Yu Yevon, who had taken the form of an eight-legged arachnoid with the Yevon symbol for an eye. “But this is _my_ story!”

 

* * *

 

We had returned to the blitzball stadium where we had fought Jecht. Yuna had begun her sending, for those that had died and been absorbed by Sin, and those who had died in our battle. I looked around me: surrounded by the stars, even though the lights of Jecht’s Zanarkand blazed around me… some of the things I’d come to love about that world were apparently Jecht’s favorites, as well.

If this was my last image of life—my two worlds coming together—it would be a good place to go out.

Yuna stopped her sending when she turned around, seeing that I was aglow with pyreflies.

“Don’t stop,” I told her.

“But I…”

“It’s all right.” One by one, I looked each of my friends in the eyes, saying a private goodbye to them. Kimahri I bumped on the chest with the back of my fist: even for a small Ronso, he still stood head and shoulders above me. He’d known me since I had first braved Gagazet, so many years ago, and I was grateful for everything he had done for me. A hint of a nod showed me that he understood the gesture.

Tidus’ brow was furrowed. He seemed almost angry at me for leaving. But then… I had to set a good example for the boy.

“It’s been long enough.” I stood in the place where Jecht had gone over the edge of the platform at the beginning of our battle with him, and shouldered my blade one last time. I turned to my friends, all of them looking at me through the pyreflies. “This is your world now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al Bhed translations:
> 
> "Frana du huf?" == "Where to now?"


	12. Always

I arrived back at the Farplane to a welcoming party. Jecht clasped my hand and brought me into a one-armed hug, Alana by his side. Braska and Mara smiled, thanking me for protecting Yuna. They parted, and Anya awaited me, looking the same as she had when I’d seen her last.

My hands trembled as I took hers in mine. “Just as beautiful as ever,” I said quietly.

She grinned. “And you’re as handsome as I remember…” she pulled one of her hands from mine and ran her fingers through a tuft of hair at my temple. “Though I think there might be more than a few grays now.”

I laughed. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

I pulled her close to me and kissed her. “I saw Paine. She’s alive. I felt her when everyone in Spira sang the Hymn.” I looked down. “I couldn’t talk to her, but…”

Anya placed a hand under my chin, tilting my head back up. “You found her, Auron. She’s okay. She’ll make it.”

“But I couldn’t protect her, Anya.”

“You did something better,” she said. “You gave her a world without Sin. She won’t have to be afraid of that anymore.”

I returned her smile. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.”

“Hey, Auron!” Jecht called. “The kid’s gonna be here any minute. Wanna help me welcome him?”

I looked over at Anya. I didn’t want to leave her side.

“We have forever,” she said. “Go on, you should be there.”

I pulled her into an embrace. “I won’t be long.”

“I know. I love you, Auron.”

“I love you, too…” I stepped back and looked into her eyes. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me until the end. I truly hope you enjoyed this series!


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